Diagnosis and therapy of Multiple Sclerosis

ABSTRACT

The serotonin receptor 5HT2A (5HT2aR) and membrane NADPH oxidases (NOX enzymes) are found to be a target of autoantibodies present in Multiple Sclerosis patients. The present invention refers to peptides comprised in the extracellular regions of the human 5HT2aR and/or NOXs for diagnosis and therapy of Multiple Sclerosis.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 15 174 144.4, filed Jun. 26, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The authors found that the serotonin receptor 5HT2A (5HT2aR) and membrane NADPH oxidases (NOX enzymes) are a target of autoantibodies present in Multiple Sclerosis patients. Thus, the present invention refers to peptides comprised in the extracellular regions of the human 5HT2aR and/or NOXs for diagnosis and therapy of Multiple Sclerosis.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by a chronic inflammatory demyelination, that damages the central nervous system (CNS) (Noseworthy et al., 2000). It is the most common cause of disability in young adults. It is one of the most debilitating medical conditions, not only physically, but also in terms of psychosocial implications.

MS is the most common neurological disease in young adult and, as shown by the descriptive studies, the geographical distribution of the disease is heterogeneous (Rosati, 2001). It concerns mainly the countries in central and northern part of Europe and those non-European regions that in various historical periods have been subject to a significant settlement of populations of northern European ancestry. MS is typically a disease of temperate climates; in both hemispheres its prevalence decreases with decreasing latitude. The comparison between the populations of North America and Europe indicate similar rates of prevalence and similar north-south gradient. Some areas of the world represent real focus of the disease, suggesting that environmental factors might be involved in MS.

In Caucasians, the average rates of total prevalence vary between 30 and 180 cases/100.000 inhabitants (Rosati, 2001) and the incidence is 10-20 new cases/100.000 inhabitants per year. It is most frequently diagnosed between 20 and 40 years, rarely affects children and the elderly. MS is about twice as common in women than in men (Pugliatti et al. 2006).

MS can be considered the result of a complex multifactorial interactions between genetic and environmental factors. The findings of several studies seem to demonstrate that MS is an immune-mediated disease related to T lymphocytes action and induced by external and unknown agents, such as viruses and bacteria, in genetically susceptible individual.

Despite the number of studies on the disease and a multidisciplinary approach to the problem, some pathogenic mechanisms of multiple sclerosis are still obscure and the aetiology is unknown.

At the present time, there are no definitive diagnostic tests for multiple sclerosis. Therefore, it is necessary to use different diagnostic tools: clinical (Trojano and Paolicelli, 2001), laboratory (Luque and Jaffe, 2007) and instrumental diagnosis (Achten and Deblaere, 2008).

1) Clinical diagnosis allows to evaluate: Patient medical history; Evidence of altered sensibility; impaired strength and vision disturbances; Symptoms/signs attributable to white matter lesions are not justified by other diseases; Spatial dissemination of lesions with clinical signs referable to 2 or more lesions; Symptoms/signs attributable to the temporal dissemination of the lesions: two or more relapses.

2) Laboratory diagnosis based on CSF investigations (inflammatory and autoimmune disorders) analyze the intrathecal synthesis of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and the presence of oligoclonal bands.

3) Instrumental diagnosis comprise: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that allows to show pathological foci in the brain stem, cerebellum and spinal cord and the presence of lesions in the corpus callosum and around the ventricles. In addition, through the use of contrast medium it is possible to highlight local impairments in Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) that precede signs of exacerbation and possible injury to the optic nerve; Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) shows less dense areas around the ventricles corresponding to the plaques in which the myelin is no longer present; Testing of Evoked Potentials (EP) measures the transmission time of sensory messages that travel through the nerves.

The current MS diagnostic procedure is rather long and tortuous thus there is the need for an early diagnosis of MS since an earliest possible therapeutic intervention would be most effective for the long term, even with currently available therapies.

The currently available therapy (β-interferon, steroids, symptomatic therapy) act on the symptomatology and are aimed at slowing the progression of the disease thus, in view of the above considerations, also a etiological therapy would be needed in order to treat permanently the disease.

5HT2aReceptor and Multiple Sclerosis

5HT2A receptor (5HT2aR) belongs to the family of serotonin receptors. There are at least 13 different receptors for serotonin grouped into 7 families based on the mechanism of signal transduction. Except 5-HT3, which is a ligand-gated ion channel, the other members are all G protein-coupled receptors, and in particular, the 5HT2aR is coupled to the Gq/11 (Barnes and Sharp, 1999).

The 5HT2aR activates multiple transduction pathway: a) the PLA2 pathway leading to arachidonic acid (AA) production; b) the PLC pathway, that through an action on phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), generates diacyl glycerol (DAG) and increases intracellular Ca²⁺ levels activating protein kinase C (PKC); c) it also activates membrane calcium channels promoting calcium influx (Raote et al., 2007).

5HT2aR is expressed by oligodendrocytes where its downstream signaling exerts modulatory effects on myelin formation (Millan et al., 2008).

Further, in relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients, there is a dysmetabolism of the serotonergic pathway. In these patients disability accumulation during disease progression correlates negatively with the CSF levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), an index of serotonergic activity in the CNS (Markianos et al., 2008).

5HT2aR is used by the JC virus (JCV, from the initials of the patient—John Cunningham—from which the virus was for the first time isolated) polyoma virus to infect cells. JCV has a very restricted tropism, since it is able to replicate only within glial cells (although it can also infect other cell types such as B lymphocytes, hematopoietic progenitor cells and few others) and, in addition, it is the “causal agent” of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), an often fatal disease associated with oligodendrocyte lysis and widespread demyelination (Elphick et al., 2004). The link between MS and JCV has emerged following the onset of PML in MS patients treated with NATALIZUMAB, a humanized monoclonal antibody used in the treatment of autoimmune inflammatory disorders such as MS, Parkinson's and Crohn diseases (Achiron et al., 2005).

Natalizumab is an antibody directed against the integrin alpha4 beta1 also known as VLA4 and thus works by preventing the adhesion and migration of lymphocytes from the vascular bed to the site of inflammation. By blocking the migration of T cells, the central nervous system remains partially immunologically unprotected promoting replication and viral reactivation.

The infection of glial cells with JCV depends on the binding of the virus to a receptor complex comprising a carbohydrate receptor and the 5HT2aR and is blocked by antagonists of the 5HT2A receptor as well as by blocking clathrin-dependent receptor-mediated endocytosis.

JCV is present in 80% of population, and the infection is subclinical, but most studies aimed at finding the virus in the CSF have shown that it is never present in the CSF of normal subjects while it is present, although in a reduced number of cases, in subjects with MS (Alvarez-Lafuente et al., 2007).

It is noteworthy that the average viral load is very low (4-6 copies/ml) and close to the limit of sensitivity of the PCR technique. Therefore, the positivity for JCV in MS patients is most likely underestimated.

NOXs in Oligodendrocytes

Oxidative stress is implicated in many neurological diseases, including Multiple Sclerosis. Together with mitochondria, NOX enzyme play a role in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the CNS.

NOX enzymes are membrane NADPH oxidases producing superoxide anions by one electron reduction of oxygen using NAD(P)H as the electron donor (Bedard and Krause, 2007). Regulated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by NADPH oxidase was first discovered in phagocytic cells. Phagocytic NADPH oxidase is a multicomponent complex comprising two integral membrane proteins, the catalytic subunit gp91phox (CY24B_HUMAN Cytochrome b-245 heavy chain, now referred to as NOX2) and p22phox, and the cytosolic components p47phox, p67phox, p40phox and the small GTPases Rac1 or 2. Upon stimulation, cytosolic subunits translocate to the membrane, activating the enzyme (Babior et al., 2002).

More recently, other isoforms of the catalytic subunit, other than NOX2, have been discovered and up to now in mammalian, seven different NOX genes (NOX1 to 5 and DUOX1 and 2) have been identified (Lambeth, 2004). Like NOX2, also NOX1, NOX3 and NOX4 are associated with the membrane subunit p22phox, but the mechanisms of activation are different. NOX1 is activated by membrane translocation of the cytosolic subunits NOXO1, NOXA1 and Rac 1 or 2, while NOX3 requires NOXO1 but the role of the other cytosolic subunits is still uncertain. NOX4, NOX5, DUOX 1 and DUOX 2 activity is not modulated by cytosolic subunits (Bedard and Krause, 2007). NOX4 is constitutively active. NOX5, DUOX1 and DUOX2 are modulated by calcium that interacts with EF-hand binding domains (a helix-loop-helix structural motif found in a large family of calcium-binding proteins) at the N-terminus of the proteins.

Many membrane receptors relay on NOX-dependent ROS production for downstream signaling. As examples, NOX enzymes are activated by growth factor receptors such as platelet-derived growth factor receptor (Svegliati et al., 2005, Baroni et al., 2006; Gabrielli et al.; 2008, Damiano et al.; 2012), epidermal growth factor receptor (Damiano et al., 2015), cholinergic receptors (Serb et al., 2004) and many others (Petry et al., 2010). Also 5HT activates downstream signaling through NOX2—produced ROS (Regmi et al., 2014; Fang et al., 2013; Kruk et al., 2013).

NOX enzymes are widely expressed in central nervous system cells, including oligodendrocytes (Sorce and Krause, 2009); in particular, NOX2 is involved in NMDA receptors signal transduction in these cells (Cavaliere et al., 2013).

In current practice, diagnosing, managing and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis is challenging, there are no definitive tests, symptoms vary widely across individuals and within patients over time, and measurement of disease progression is problematic. Differential diagnosis often entails extensive clinical observation and a battery of costly tests like MRIs. Poor insight into disease progression and therapeutic response creates uncertainty in designing and implementing therapeutic strategies.

Based on the above there is still the need for improved diagnostic and therapies for MS.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is based on the finding that autoantibodies responsible for Multiple Sclerosis bind to either one or both membrane proteins, 5-HT2A receptor (5HT2aR or 5HT2AR) and NOXs and their respective epitopes.

Following the observation by immunoprecipitation and flow cytometric analysis, that 5-HT2AR and NOXs are expressed in the cellular model MO3-13 and that NOX3 interacts with 5HT2aR, the inventors found that sera from MS patients selectively bind 5HT2aR and NOX3.

In order to find out the 5HT2aR and NOX3 epitopes responsible for the specific binding of sera from MS patients, the extracellular domains of the proteins have been used for the design of two peptide libraries. Testing these two libraries with the sera from control patients and MS patients, 47 peptides from 5-HT2AR library and 99 peptides from NOX2 library were found to be significantly recognized by MS sera compared to control sera.

To further investigate the possibility of using these peptides for the diagnosis of MS, the inventors tested as an example two peptides (DDSKVFKEGS (SEQ ID NO: 157), named DDSK and the other one LYGYRWPLPSKL (SEQ ID NO: 158) named LYGY) from the 5-HT2A receptor library using indirect ELISA. Both peptides significantly bind MS IgGs.

Experiments were also performed to evaluate the multiple sclerosis therapeutic use of peptides with sequences comprised within the extracellular domains of 5Ht2a receptor and recognized by the autoantibodies present in MS patients. For example, inventors used the DDSK peptide. The effects of IgGMS on different signaling molecule downstream the 5Ht2a receptor were evaluated. Incubation of M03-13 cells with IgGMS increases the levels of ROS, DUOX1/2, P-ERK1/2, NOX3 and HaRas compared to samples treated with control IgG; moreover, the 5Ht receptor antagonist, risperidone, prevents the increase of P-ERK1/2 levels in cells treated with IgGMS. These data demonstrate that IgG from MS patients interfere with 5HT2aR signaling and this effect may have a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. It was also demonstrated that the preincubation of the cells with DDSK peptide reverted the effects of the immunoglobulins from MS patients on signaling molecules downstream 5Ht2A receptor and therefore that it can be used for MS therapy.

Then the peptides comprised in the identified epitopes or comprising the identified epitopes can be used both for the diagnosis and therapy of multiple sclerosis.

In a first aspect therefore the invention provides a peptide or a fragment thereof, said peptide being able to bind multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies and being selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   a) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 16, 37, 33, 25, 47, 57, 55,         46, 56 and comprising the amino acid sequence VFKEG and/or     -   b) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 12, 50, 17, 49, 44, 38, 21,         29, 14, 41, 45, 52, 23 and comprising the amino acid sequence         YRWP and/or     -   c) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 16, 38, 57, 21, 29, 51, 53         and comprising the amino acid sequence KES or NEDVIGAL and/or     -   d) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 40, 15, 43, 10, 24, 28, and         comprising the amino acid sequence MQLN or TRL and/or     -   e) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 19, 54, 20, 22, 26, 27, 11,         13, 35, 48, 16, 37, 18, 33, 31, 39, 30 and comprising the amino         acid sequence MDIL or EENTSLSS and/or     -   f) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 32, 34, 36 and comprising         the amino acid sequence TVDSENRTNL and/or     -   g) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64,         65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86,         89, 95, 99, 100, 103, 104, 106, 110, 112, 117, 125, 126, 127,         129, 136, 137, 144, 145 and comprising the amino acid sequence         LNFARK or LNFAR or ARK or NESY and/or     -   h) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 83, 84, 93, 96, 98, 99, 101,         105, 108, 112, 115, 122, 123, 124, 128, 130, 134, 139, 141, 142,         143, 144, 146, 147, 149, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156 and comprising         the amino acid sequence QKISEWG or KISEWG or QKIS and/or     -   i) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 72, 78, 118, 121, 132, and         comprising the amino acid sequence PYSVAL, PYSV or VAL and/or     -   j) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least         50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 102, 116, and comprising the         amino acid sequence KIKECP.

Preferably the peptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 60% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156, preferably at least 70% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156, preferably at least 80%, 85% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156, still preferably at least 90% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156, preferably at least 95% with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156, preferably at least 99% with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156.

Preferably the peptide has at least 60% identity with any of DDSKVFKEGS (SEQ ID No. 157) or LYGYRWPLPSKL (SEQ ID No. 158), preferably at least 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or 95% identity with any of DDSKVFKEGS (SEQ ID No. 157) or LYGYRWPLPSKL (SEQ ID No. 158) In a preferred embodiment the peptide essentially consists of any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156.

In a preferred embodiment the peptide essentially consists of DDSKVFKEGS (SEQ ID No. 157) or LYGYRWPLPSKL (SEQ ID No. 158).

In a preferred embodiment the peptide of the invention comprises at least one an amino acid sequence as described in Table 1 or Table 2 or a fragment thereof. In particular the fragments of the protein may be the sequence between two cysteine residues.

In a preferred embodiment the peptide of the invention essentially consists of an amino acid sequence as described in Table 1 or Table 2 or a fragment thereof.

In double looped peptides, three cysteine residues were added, two as first and last amino acid and one in the middle of the sequence. Then peptides of the invention may the whole sequence or the fragments located between two cysteine residues or the sequence with only one cysteine at either end of the sequence. For instance for peptide 1 of table 1, peptides of interest are CNSLMQLNDDTRLYCMDILSEENTSLSSC (SEQ ID No. 10) or NSLMQLNDDTRLY (aa 2-14 of SEQ ID No. 10) or MDILSEENTSLSS (aa 16-28 of SEQ ID No. 10) or CNSLMQLNDDTRLY (aa 1-14 of SEQ ID No. 10) or NSLMQLNDDTRLYC (aa 2-15 of SEQ ID No. 10) or CMDILSEENTSLSS (aa 15-28 of SEQ ID No. 10) or MDILSEENTSLSSC (aa 16-29 of SEQ ID No. 10).

Preferably the peptide is in linear or conformational form.

Preferably the peptide is for medical use. Preferably for use in the treatment and/or prevention of multiple sclerosis.

The invention further provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one peptide as defined above and pharmaceutically acceptable excipients, preferably for use in the treatment and/or prevention of multiple sclerosis.

Preferably the composition further comprises a therapeutic agent, preferably the therapeutic agent is selected from the group consisting of: b-interferon, cognitive enhancers (nootropics): methylphenidate, racetams, isoflavones, vitamins (B, C, D, E), choline, amphetamines, xanthines, adrenergics, cholinergics, serotonigergic, dopaminergics, eugeroics (adrafinil, armodafinil, modafinil), GABA blockers, AMPAkines, PDE4 inhibitors and others; neuroprotective agents: glutamate antagonists, 17β-Estradiol, ginsenoside Rd, progesterone, statins, antioxidants, nicotine, caffeine, caspase inhibitors, neurotrophic factors, other antiapoptotic agents; anti-pain medication or natalizumab.

The invention also provides the use of at least one peptide as defined above for detecting multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies in a biological fluid isolated from a subject.

The invention also provides a method for the diagnosis or for monitoring the progression of multiple sclerosis or for identifying or monitoring a therapy for multiple sclerosis characterized in detecting multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies in a biological sample isolated from a subject by means of binding to at least one peptide as defined above.

The invention provides a kit for the diagnosis or for monitoring the progression of multiple sclerosis or for identifying or monitoring a therapy for multiple sclerosis comprising at least one peptide as defined above.

The invention provides a nucleic acid molecule encoding for any one of the peptide or fragment thereof as defined herein.

The invention provides a n antibody or a recombinant or synthetic derivative thereof able to recognize and bind to at least one peptide as defined herein, preferably for medical and/or diagnostic use, preferably for use in the treatment and/or prevention or diagnosis and/or for monitoring the progression of multiple sclerosis and/or for identifying or monitoring a therapy of multiple sclerosis.

The peptides of the invention are comprised in loop 1 (SEQ ID No. 7), in loop 2 (SEQ ID No. 8), in loop 3 (SEQ ID No. 9) or in the N-terminal region of the 5HT2aR (SEQ ID No. 6) or in loop 2 (SEQ ID No. 4) or in loop 3 (SEQ ID No. 5) of NOX2. However the peptides may also comprise loop 1 (SEQ ID No. 7), loop 2 (SEQ ID No. 8), loop 3 (SEQ ID No. 9) or N-terminal region of the 5HT2aR (SEQ ID No. 6) or loop 2 (SEQ ID No. 4) or loop 3 (SEQ ID No. 5) of NOX2.

The peptide of the invention is a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity, preferably at least 60%, preferably at least 70%, preferably at least 80%, preferably at least 85%, 87%, 90%, 92%, 95%, 99% with SEQ ID NO. 4 and/or SEQ ID NO. 5 and/or SEQ ID NO. 6 and/or SEQ ID NO. 7 and/or SEQ ID NO. 8 and/or SEQ ID NO. 9 or having at least 50%, preferably at least 60%, preferably at least 70%, preferably at least 80%, preferably at least 85%, 87%, 90%, 92%, 95%, 99% identity with a fragment of SEQ ID NO. 4/or SEQ ID NO. 5 and/or SEQ ID NO. 6 and/or SEQ ID NO. 7 and/or SEQ ID NO. 8 and/or SEQ ID NO. 9 or a fragment of said peptide.

The peptide of the invention or a fragment thereof is an epitope for multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies.

Percentage identity is determined by means of know method in the art such as BLAST using available algorithms.

In the present invention a fragment of the peptide of the inventor is an epitope for multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies.

In particular the fragment has at least 3 amino acids (aa), preferably at least 4, 5, 6, 7 aa, 9 aa, 10 aa, 15 aa, 20 aa, 25 aa, 28 aa, 29 aa or 30 aa.

The fragment of the peptide is a functional fragment that binds multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies.

An epitope is defined as the part of the antigen that is recognized by antibodies. The epitope is the specific piece of the antigen that an antibody binds to. The part of an antibody that binds to the epitope is called a paratope. Although epitopes are usually non-self proteins, sequences derived from the host that can be recognized (as in the case of autoimmune diseases) are also epitopes.

The epitopes of protein antigens are divided into two categories, conformational epitopes and linear epitopes, based on their structure and interaction with the paratope. A conformational epitope is composed of discontinuous sections of the antigen's amino acid sequence. These epitopes interact with the paratope based on the 3-D surface features and shape or tertiary structure of the antigen.

An epitope for multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies is defined as the antigen recognized by the autoantibodies. This is part of endogenous proteins expressed by cells.

An autoantibody is an antibody directed against one or more of the individual's own proteins.

The peptide or a fragment thereof binds to multiple sclerosis biological fluid. The biological fluid may be blood, serum, plasma, saliva, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, lymph fluid, pleural fluid or synovial fluid.

The peptide of the invention or fragment thereof bind IgG of MS patients with an affinity of 1 microM to 1 PicoM.

Binding of the peptide of the invention to MS biological fluid or to MS IgG may be performed by any known method in the art.

The peptide of the invention may also be chimeric peptide comprising a combination of peptides relative to 5HT2aR (Table 1) and peptides relative to NOX 2 (Table 2). Preferably the chimeric peptide is an hybrid between peptides relative to 5HT2aR (Table 1) and peptides relative to NOX 2 (Table 2). Preferably the chimeric peptide comprise several peptides relative to 5HT2aR (Table 1) or several peptides relative to NOX 2 (Table 2).

The peptide of the invention, if required, can be modified in vitro and/or in vivo, for example by glycosylation, myristoylation, amidation, carboxylation or phosphorylation, and may be obtained, for example, by synthetic or recombinant techniques known in the art.

The peptide of the invention may also be modified to better adhere to a solid support (as in the kit of the invention). Such modifications include biotylination, avidin conjugation, polymer conjugation, etc.

As used herein, the term “derivatives” refers to longer or shorter peptides having a percentage of identity of at least 45%, preferably at least 50%, 60%, 65%, 70% or 75% with SEQ ID NO. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9, or ortholog thereof, preferably of at least 85%, as an example of at least 90%, and more preferably of at least 95%.

As used herein “fragments” refers to peptides having a length of at least 3, preferably at least 4, 5, 10 amino acids, preferably at least 15 or at least 20 amino acids, more preferably at least 25 amino acids, and more preferably of at least 50 amino acids. The fragments maintain the biological activity of the peptide of the invention, i.e binding to MS biological sample. As used herein, “percentage of identity” between two amino acids sequences, means the percentage of identical amino-acids, between the two sequences to be compared, obtained with the best alignment of said sequences, this percentage being purely statistical and the differences between these two sequences being randomly spread over the amino acids sequences. As used herein, “best alignment” or “optimal alignment”, means the alignment for which the determined percentage of identity (see below) is the highest. Sequences comparison between two amino acids sequences are usually realized by comparing these sequences that have been previously aligned according to the best alignment; this comparison is realized on segments of comparison in order to identify and compared the local regions of similarity. The best sequences alignment to perform comparison can be realized, beside by a manual way, by using the global homology algorithm developed by SMITH and WATERMAN (Ad. App. Math., vol. 2, p:482, 1981), by using the local homology algorithm developed by NEDDLEMAN and WUNSCH (J. Mol. Biol, vol. 48, p:443, 1970), by using the method of similarities developed by PEARSON and LIPMAN (Proc. Natl. Acd. Sci. USA, vol. 85, p:2444, 1988), by using computer softwares using such algorithms (GAP, BESTFIT, BLAST P, BLAST N, FASTA, TFASTA in the Wisconsin Genetics software Package, Genetics Computer Group, 575 Science Dr., Madison, Wis. USA), by using the MUSCLE multiple alignment algorithms (Edgar, Robert C, Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 32, p:1792, 2004). To get the best local alignment, one can preferably used BLAST software, with the BLOSUM 62 matrix, or the PAM 30 matrix. The identity percentage between two sequences of amino acids is determined by comparing these two sequences optimally aligned, the amino acid sequences being able to comprise additions or deletions in respect to the reference sequence in order to get the optimal alignment between these two sequences. The percentage of identity is calculated by determining the number of identical position between these two sequences, and dividing this number by the total number of compared positions, and by multiplying the result obtained by 100 to get the percentage of identity between these two sequences.

Within the meaning of the present invention, the terms “peptide” or “polypeptide” are not particularly restricted, and in general designate natural or synthetic peptides containing only natural amino acids, only non-natural amino acids, or combinations of natural and non-natural amino acids. In the context of the present invention, the term “peptide” denotes a chain of amino acids linked together via a peptide bond (or amide bond). The term “amino acid” as employed herein includes and encompasses all of the naturally occurring amino acids, either in the D-, L-, allo, or other stereoisomeric configurations if optically active, as well as any known or conceivable non-natural, synthetic and modified amino acid.

The term “natural amino acids” denotes the following 20 amino acids in their laevorotatory (L) or dextrorotatory (D) form, preferably in their natural L form:

Name One-letter code Three-letter code Alanine A Ala Arginine R Arg Asparagine N Asn Aspartate D Asp Cysteine C Cys Glutamate E Glu Glutamine Q Gln Glycine G Gly Histidine H His Isoleucine I Ile Leucine L Leu Lysine K Lys Methionine M Met Phenylalanine F Phe Proline P Pro Serine S Ser Threonine T Thr Tryptophan W Trp Tyrosine Y Tyr Valine V Val

The term “hydrophobic amino acid” denotes one of the following amino acids: I, L, V, M, F, Y, W, T, G, C or A. The term “alkaline hydrophilic amino acid” denotes one of the following amino acids: R, K or H. The term “neutral hydrophilic amino acid” denotes one of the following amino acids: S, P, N or Q. The term “acidic amino acid” denotes one of the following amino acids: D or E. In particular, the term “polypeptides” as employed herein includes and encompasses oligopeptides, peptides, polypeptides and derivatives thereof, peptide analogs and derivatives thereof, as well as pharmaceutically acceptable salts of said peptides. The term “peptides” as employed herein includes complexes with other species, such as metal ions (like copper, zinc, manganese, magnesium etc.).

The terms “hexapeptide”, “pentapeptide”, “tetrapeptide” indicate compounds including a sequence of, respectively, six, five and four amino acids in consecutive order. These amino acids are indicated using the three or one letter codes, according to international conventions, from the N-terminus to the C-terminus. According to said conventions, proline is indicated as Pro or P, histidine is indicated as His or H, arginine as Arg or R, glutamic acis as Glu or E, asparagine as Asn or N, lysine as Lys or K, glutamine as Gln or Q, aspartic acid as Asp or D.

The abbreviations used for the amino acids follow the rules of the Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature IUPAC-IUB specified in Eur. J. Biochem. (1984) 138, 9-37 and in J. Biol. Chem. (1989) 264, 633-673.

According to specific embodiments of the invention, the non natural amino acids include, without limitations, the hydroxyproline (Hyp), the L-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolin-3-carboxylic acid (Tic), azetidine, D-proline (pro), homo-proline (hPro), thienylalanine (Tha), tiazolidinalanine (Thz), ornitine (Orn), nor-arginine (Agb).

To increase the bioavailability and the capacity of the peptides of the invention to cross the blood brain barriers, their lipophilicity or lipophilic character can be increased through acylation of the N-terminal amino group of the peptide, or through esterification of the carboxy terminal with an alcohol, linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, hydroxylated or not, or through both said chemical modifications.

In a preferred embodiment, N-acyl groups are acetyl, lauroyl, miristoyl, palmitoyl, steroyl, oleoyl, lineoyl. Particularly preferred are the groups N-acetyl and N-palmitoyl.

When used at the N-terminal of a sequence, “Ac” indicates an N-acyl derivative (indicated also as acyl-derivative). Similarly, “Palm” indicates a N-Palmitoyl derivative. When used at the C-terminus of a sequence, “OAlk” indicates an ester group attached to the C-terminus carboxylic group.

The polypeptides of the invention can be obtained from chemical or enzymatic synthesis starting from the constitutive amino acids or from their derivatives; alternatively, they can be obtained from natural proteins by hydrolysis under mild conditions, or by biotechnology. For example, known methods of peptide synthesis can be applied, as the Fmoc/tBu method in solid phase. Other chemical methods include Boc/bzl or liquid phase synthesis. References for the synthetic methodologies are described for example in: Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis (1984), Pierce Chemical Company, Rockford, Ill.; The Practice of Peptide Synthesis (1984), Springer Verlach, New York; Chemical Approaches to the Synthesis of Peptides and Proteins (1997), CRC, Boca Raton, Fla.; J. Biol. Chem. (1980), 255, 8234-8238.

The polypeptides of the invention can form homogeneous or mixed salts with mono- or polivalent acids, preferably with inorganic acids or with appropriate aliphatic carboxylic acids saturated or unsaturated, or with aromatic carboxylic acids, or with aliphatic or aromatic solfonic acids, preferably acetic acid, lactic acid and/or chloridric acid.

The term “polynucleotide” according to the present invention refers to a single strand nucleotide chain or its complementary strand which can be of the DNA or RNA type, or a double strand nucleotide chain which can be of the cDNA (complementary) or genomic DNA type. Preferably, the polynucleotides of the invention are of the DNA type, namely double strand DNA. The term “polynucleotide” also refers to modified polynucleotides.

The polynucleotides of this invention are isolated or purified from their natural environment. Preferably, the polynucleotides of this invention can be prepared using conventional molecular biology techniques such as those described by Sambrook et al. (Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 1989) or by chemical synthesis.

The polynucleotide of the invention may also include the coding sequence of the polypeptide defined previously, additional coding sequence such as leader sequence or a proprotein sequence, and/or additional non-coding sequence, such as introns or 5 ‘and/or 3’ UTR sequences.

As used herein, the term “vector” refers to an expression vector, and may be for example in the form of a plasmid, a viral particle, a phage, etc. Such vectors may include bacterial plasmids, phage DNA, baculovirus, yeast plasmids, vectors derived from combinations of plasmids and phage DNA, viral DNA such as vaccinia, adenovirus, fowl pox virus, adenovirus, adeno-associated virus and pseudorabies. Large numbers of suitable vectors are known to those of skill in the art and are commercially available. The following vectors are provided by way of example. Bacterial: pQE70, pQE60, pQE-9 (QIAGEN), pbs, pDIO, phagescript, psiX174, pbluescript SK, pbsks, pNH8A, pNHI[beta]a, pNH18A, pNH46A (STRATAGENE), ptrc99a, pKK223-3, pKK233-3, pDR540, pRIT5 (PHARMACIA). Eukaryotic: pWLNEO, pSV2CAT, pOG44, pXTI, pSG (STRATAGENE), pSVK3, pBPV, pMSG, pSVL (PHARMACIA). However, any other vector may be used as long as it is replicable and viable in the host. The polynucleotide sequence, preferably the DNA sequence in the vector is operatively linked to an appropriate expression control sequence(s) (promoter) to direct mRNA synthesis. As representative examples of such promoters, one can mentioned prokaryotic or eukaryotic promoters such as CMV immediate early, HSV thymidine kinase, early and late SV40, LTRs from retrovirus, and mouse metallothionein-I. The expression vector also contains a ribosome binding site for translation initiation and a transcription vector. The vector may also include appropriate sequences for amplifying expression.

In addition, the vectors preferably contain one or more selectable marker genes to provide a phenotypic trait for selection of transformed host cells such as dihydro folate reductase or neomycin resistance for eukaryotic cell culture, or such as tetracycline or ampicillin resistance in E. coli.

As used herein, the term “host cell genetically engineered” or “host cell” relates to host cells which have been transduced, transformed or transfected with the polynucleotide or with the vector described previously.

As representative examples of appropriate host cells, one can cites bacterial cells, such as E. coli, Streptomyces, Salmonella typhimurium, fungal cells such as yeast, insect cells such as Sf9, animal cells such as CHO or COS, plant cells, etc. The selection of an appropriate host is deemed to be within the scope of those skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

Preferably, said host cell is an animal cell, and most preferably a human cell. The introduction of the polynucleotide or of the vector described previously into the host cell can be effected by method well known from one of skill in the art such as calcium phosphate transfection, DEAE-Dextran mediated transfection, or electroporation.

The polynucleotide may be a vector such as for example a viral vector.

Another object of the invention is a composition comprising a transformed host cell expressing a peptide of the invention.

The man skilled in the art is well aware of the standard methods for incorporation of a polynucleotide into a host cell, for example transfection, lipofection, electroporation, microinjection, viral infection, thermal shock, transformation after chemical permeabilisation of the membrane or cell fusion.

The term “antibody” is used herein in the broadest sense and specifically covers monoclonal antibodies of any isotype such as IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD and IgE, polyclonal antibodies, chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies and antibody fragments. An antibody reactive with a specific antigen can be generated by recombinant methods such as selection of libraries of recombinant antibodies in phage or similar vectors, or by immunizing an animal with the antigen or an antigen-encoding nucleic acid. A typical IgG antibody is comprised of two identical heavy chains and two identical light chains that are joined by disulfide bonds. Each heavy and light chain contains a constant region and a variable region. Each variable region contains three segments called “complementarity-determining regions” (“CDRs”) or “hypervariable regions”, which are primarily responsible for binding an epitope of an antigen. They are usually referred to as CDRI, CDR2, and CDR3, numbered sequentially from the N-terminus. The more highly conserved portions of the variable regions are called the “framework regions”. As used herein, “VH” or “VH” refers to the variable region of an immunoglobulin heavy chain of an antibody, including the heavy chain of an Fv, scFv, dsFv, Fab, Fab′ or F(ab′)2 fragment. Reference to “VL” or “VL” refers to the variable region of the immunoglobulin light chain of an antibody, including the light chain of an Fv, scFv, dsFv, Fab, Fab′ or F(ab′)2 fragment. A “polyclonal antibody” is an antibody which was produced among or in the presence of one or more other, non-identical antibodies. In general, polyclonal antibodies are produced from a B-lymphocyte in the presence of several other B-lymphocytes producing non-identical antibodies. Usually, polyclonal antibodies are obtained directly from an immunized animal. A “monoclonal antibody”, as used herein, is an antibody obtained from a population of substantially homogeneous antibodies, i.e. the antibodies forming this population are essentially identical except for possible naturally occurring mutations which might be present in minor amounts. These antibodies are directed against a single epitope and are therefore highly specific. An “epitope” is the site on the antigen to which an antibody binds.

As used herein, a “chimeric antibody” is an antibody in which the constant region, or a portion thereof, is altered, replaced, or exchanged, so that the variable region is linked to a constant region of a different species, or belonging to another antibody class or subclass.

“Chimeric antibody” also refers to an antibody in which the variable region, or a portion thereof, is altered, replaced, or exchanged, so that the constant region is linked to a variable region of a different species, or belonging to another antibody class or subclass. Methods for producing chimeric antibodies are known in the art.

The term “humanized antibody”, as used herein, refers to a chimeric antibody which contain minimal sequence derived from non-human immunoglobulin. The goal of humanization is a reduction in the immunogenicity of a xenogenic antibody, such as a murine antibody, for introduction into a human, while maintaining the full antigen binding affinity and specificity of the antibody. Humanized antibodies, or antibodies adapted for non-rejection by other mammals, may be produced using several technologies such as resurfacing and CDR grafting. Humanized chimeric antibodies preferably have constant regions and variable regions other than the complementarity determining regions derived substantially or exclusively from the corresponding human antibody regions and CDRs derived substantially or exclusively from a mammal other than a human. The antibodies of the present invention include both the full length antibodies discussed above, as well as epitope-binding fragments thereof. As used herein, “antibody fragments” include any portion of an antibody that retains the ability to bind to the epitope recognized by the full length antibody, generally termed “epitope-binding fragments.” Examples of antibody fragments include, but are not limited to, Fab, Fab′ and F(ab′)2, Fd, single-chain Fvs (scFv), single-chain antibodies, disulfide-linked Fvs (dsFv) and fragments comprising either a VL or VH region. Epitope-binding fragments, including single-chain antibodies, may comprise the variable region(s) alone or in combination with the entirety or a portion of the following: hinge region, CHI, CH2, and CH3 domains.

The peptides of the invention find use as active ingredients for the preparation of compositions or pharmaceutical formulations preferably for medical use in MS. Said compositions can be used for example to prevent or reduce signs of MS

The present invention provides peptides and compositions for various way of application which comprise an effective amount of a peptide of the invention to treat, reverse, ameliorate and/or prevent signs of MS.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term derivative denotes any molecule obtained by modification, of a genetic and/or chemical nature, of these sequences and which retains the desired activity. Modification of a genetic and/or chemical nature should be understood to mean any mutation, substitution, deletion, addition and/or modification of one or more residues. Such derivatives may be generated for different purposes, such as, in particular, that of increasing the affinity of the peptide for its interaction site, that of improving its levels of production, that of increasing its resistance to proteases, that of increasing its therapeutic efficacy or of reducing its side effects, that of endowing it with novel pharmacokinetic and/or biological properties, that increasing circulatory half-life in the body of the patient, that of enhancing bioavailability and/or enhancing efficacy and/or specificity. In addition, non-peptide peptidomimetics for improving stability, for example less susceptible to biological degradation must also be included as well as the synthesis of the said peptide sequences using D-amino acids instead of the natural L-amino acids, which may increase stability and resistance to degradation. Allelic variants, refer to variants of peptides in the same species, orthologous of peptides of the invention refer to variants in different species.

The peptide or composition of the invention may also be in the form of a food supplement.

The molecule or pharmaceutical composition of the invention is preferably administered directly into the brain.

In the present invention vector is for therapy, in particular by gene therapy comprising under the control of suitable regulative sequences a nucleotide sequence encoding the peptide or a combination as above discloses, also expressed in stem cells (hematopoietic and/or neuronal). The phrase “pharmaceutically acceptable” refers to molecular entities and compositions that are physiologically tolerable and do not typically produce an allergic or similar untoward reaction, such as gastric upset, dizziness and the like, when administered to a human. Preferably, as used herein, the term “pharmaceutically acceptable” means approved by a regulatory agency of the Federal or a state government or listed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia or other generally recognized pharmacopeia for use in animals, and more particularly in humans. The term “carrier” refers to a diluent, adjuvant, excipient, or vehicle with which the molecule is administered. Such pharmaceutical carriers can be sterile liquids, such as water and oils, including those of petroleum, animal, vegetable or synthetic origin, such as peanut oil, soybean oil, mineral oil, sesame oil and the like. Water or aqueous solution saline solutions and aqueous dextrose and glycerol solutions are preferably employed as carriers, particularly for injectable solutions. Suitable pharmaceutical carriers are described in “Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences” by E.W. Martin.

The composition of the invention may comprise one or more additives (e.g., stabilizers, preservatives). See, generally, Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 6th Ed. (various editors, 1989-1998, Marcel Dekker); and Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems (ANSEL et al, 1994, WILLIAMS & WILKINS).

Typically, the medicament may be used for the therapeutic or prophylactic treatment of a subject, said subject corresponding to a mammal, in particular to a human being.

According to the present invention, an “effective amount” of a composition is one that is sufficient to achieve a desired biological effect, in this case binding to MS fluid and/or treatment of MS. It is understood that the effective dosage will be dependent upon the age, sex, health, and weight of the recipient, kind of concurrent treatment, if any, frequency of treatment, and the nature of the effect desired. The provided ranges of effective doses of the peptide of the invention (from 0.0001 mg/kg to 100 mg/kg, in particular systemically administered) are not intended to limit the invention and represent preferred dose ranges. However, the preferred dosage can be tailored to the individual subject, as is understood and determinable by one of skill in the art, without undue experimentation. The present invention has use in human and animal health (veterinary use).

An aspect of the present invention comprises a nucleic acid construct comprised within a delivery vehicle. A delivery vehicle is an entity whereby a nucleotide sequence can be transported from at least one media to another. Delivery vehicles may be generally used for expression of the sequences encoded within the nucleic acid construct and/or for the intracellular delivery of the construct. It is within the scope of the present invention that the delivery vehicle may be a vehicle selected from the group of RNA based vehicles, DNA based vehicles/vectors, lipid based vehicles, virally based vehicles and cell based vehicles. Examples of such delivery vehicles include: biodegradable polymer microspheres, lipid based formulations such as liposome carriers, coating the construct onto colloidal gold particles, lipopolysaccharides, polypeptides, polysaccharides, pegylation of viral vehicles.

In one embodiment of the present invention may comprise a virus as a delivery vehicle, where the virus may be selected from: adenoviruses, retroviruses, lentiviruses, adeno-associated viruses, herpesviruses, vaccinia viruses, foamy viruses, cytomegaloviruses, Semliki forest virus, poxviruses, RNA virus vector and DNA virus vector. Such viral vectors are well known in the art. Commonly used gene transfer techniques include calcium phosphate, DEAE-dextran, transfection, electroporation and microinjection and viral methods. Another technique for the introduction of DNA into cells is the use of cationic liposomes. Commercially available cationic lipid formulations are e.g. Tfx 50 (Promega) or Lipofectamin 2000 (Life Technologies).

The compositions of the present invention may be in form of a solution, e.g. an injectable solution, a cream, ointment, tablet, suspension or the like. The composition may be administered in any suitable way, e.g. by injection, particularly by intraocular injection, by oral, topical, nasal, rectal application etc. The carrier may be any suitable pharmaceutical carrier. Preferably, a carrier is used, which is capable of increasing the efficacy of the RNA molecules to enter the target-cells. Suitable examples of such carriers are liposomes, particularly cationic liposomes.

The recombinant expression vector of the invention can be any suitable recombinant expression vector, and can be used to transform or transfect any suitable host. Suitable vectors include those designed for propagation and expansion or for expression or both, such as plasmids and viruses. The recombinant expression vectors of the invention can be prepared using standard recombinant DNA techniques. Constructs of expression vectors, which are circular or linear, can be prepared to contain a replication system functional in a prokaryotic or eukaryotic host cell. Replication systems can be derived, e.g., from CoIEI, 2μ plasmid, λ, SV40, bovine papilloma virus, and the like.

Desirably, the recombinant expression vector comprises regulatory sequences, such as transcription and translation initiation and termination codons, which are specific to the type of host (e.g., bacterium, fungus, plant, or animal) into which the vector is to be introduced, as appropriate and taking into consideration whether the vector is DNA- or RNA-based. The recombinant expression vector can include one or more marker genes, which allow for selection of transformed or transfected hosts. Marker genes include biocide resistance, e.g., resistance to antibiotics, heavy metals, etc., complementation in an auxotrophic host to provide prototrophy, and the like. Suitable marker genes for the inventive expression vectors include, for instance, neomycin/G418 resistance genes, hygromycin resistance genes, histidinol resistance genes, tetracycline resistance genes, and ampicillin resistance genes. The recombinant expression vector can comprise a native or normative promoter operably linked to the nucleotide sequence encoding the peptide of the invention (including functional portions and functional variants thereof), or to the nucleotide sequence which is complementary to or which hybridizes to the nucleotide sequence encoding the RNA. The selection of promoters, e.g., strong, weak, inducible, tissue-specific and developmental-specific, is within the ordinary skill of the artisan. Similarly, the combining of a nucleotide sequence with a promoter is also within the skill of the artisan. The promoter can be a non-viral promoter or a viral promoter, e.g., a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, an SV40 promoter, an RSV promoter and a promoter found in the long-terminal repeat of the murine stem cell virus.

The inventive recombinant expression vectors can be designed for either transient expression, for stable expression, or for both. Also, the recombinant expression vectors can be made for constitutive expression or for inducible expression.

When the peptide or antibody of the invention is administered with one or more additional therapeutic agents, one or more additional therapeutic agents can be coadministered to the mammal. By “coadministering” is meant administering one or more additional therapeutic agents and the molecule of the invention sufficiently close in time such that the molecule can enhance the effect of one or more additional therapeutic agents. In this regard, the molecule of the invention can be administered first and the one or more additional therapeutic agents can be administered second, or vice versa. Alternatively, the molecule of the invention and the one or more additional therapeutic agents can be administered simultaneously. The additional therapeutic agent may be a recombinant expression vector comprising a coding sequence providing neuroprotective and/or cognition enhancement under the control of an appropriate promoter. Additional therapeutic agents may include b-interferon, cognitive enhancers (nootropics): methylphenidate, racetams, isoflavones, vitamins (B, C, D, E), choline, amphetamines, xanthines, adrenergics, cholinergics, serotonigergic, dopaminergics, eugeroics (adrafinil, armodafinil, modafinil), GABA blockers, AMPAkines, PDE4 inhibitors and others; neuroprotective agents: glutamate antagonists, 17β-Estradiol, ginsenoside Rd, progesterone, statins, antioxidants, nicotine, caffeine, caspase inhibitors, neurotrophic factors, other antiapoptotic agents; anti-pain medication or natalizumab.

It is a further object of the invention a kit consisting of separate packs of:

-   -   an effective amount of the peptide of the invention or         pharmaceutically usable derivatives thereof as defined above and     -   an effective amount of a further medicament active ingredient.

The further medicament active ingredient is selected from b-interferon, cognitive enhancers and/or neuroprotective agents, anti-pain medication as indicated above.

The delivery systems useful in the context of embodiments of the invention may include time-released, delayed release and sustained release delivery systems such that the delivery of the inventive composition occurs prior to, and with sufficient time to cause, sensitization of the site to be treated. The inventive composition can be used in conjunction with other therapeutic agents or therapies. Such systems can avoid repeated administrations of the inventive composition, thereby increasing convenience to the subject and the physician, and may be particularly suitable for certain composition embodiments of the invention. Many types of release delivery systems are available and known to those of ordinary skill in the art. They include polymer base systems such as poly(lactide-glycolide), copolyoxalates, polycaprolactones, polyesteramides, polyorthoesters, polyhydroxybutyric acid, and polyanhydrides. Microcapsules of the foregoing polymers containing drugs are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,109. Delivery systems also include non-polymer systems that are lipids including sterols such as cholesterol, cholesterol esters, and fatty acids or neutral fats such as mono-di- and tri-glycerides; hydrogel release systems; silastic systems; peptide based systems; wax coatings; compressed tablets using conventional binders and excipients; partially fused implants; and the like. Specific examples include, but are not limited to: (a) erosional systems in which the active composition is contained in a form within a matrix such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,452,775, 4,667,014, 4,748,034, and 5,239,660 and (b) diffusional systems in which an active component permeates at a controlled rate from a polymer such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,832,253 and 3,854,480. In addition, pump-based hardware delivery systems can be used, some of which are adapted for implantation.

The kit of the present invention may include written instructions.

In the method for the diagnosis or for monitoring the progression of multiple sclerosis or for identifying or monitoring a therapy for multiple sclerosis of the present invention, the quantity of multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies may also be quantified and compared to a reference control. The reference control may be the quantity of multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies in a patient affected by a neurological disorder other than MS, the quantity of multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies in a MS patient before start of the therapy or the quantity of multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies in a MS patient at different time points during the therapy.

The present invention will be illustrated by means of non-limiting examples in reference to the following figures.

FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C: 5-HTA2R expression in MO3-13 cells (A) Immunoreactivity for 5HT2aR in MO3-13 cells was evidenced by indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometric analysis using primary antibodies against human 5HT2aR and Cy3-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG as secondary antibodies. Control was treated with secondary antibodies alone. (B) Western blotting analysis of 5HT2aR in three different cell lines. To determine which band is specific for 5HT2aR, an immunizing peptide blocking experiment has been performed as follow: before proceeding with the staining protocol, the antibody was incubated with an excess (two fold) of peptide (immunizing peptide) that corresponds to the epitope recognized by the antibody. By comparing the staining from the blocking antibody (right panel) with that of antibody alone (left panel) it is possible to evidence the specific bands. As evidenced by the circle, in M03-13 cells the 5HT2aR appears as a double band one of 20 and one of 30 kD. (C) PCR analysis of 5Ht2a receptor in MO3-13 and HEK-293 cells. Total mRNA was extracted with Trizol, reverse transcribed and analyzed by PCR with specific primers to human 5HT2aR or β-actin fragment, as internal control. The PCR analysis was carried out at 35 number of cycles. M, Molecular Weight Marker.

FIG. 2: IgG from MS patients bind to 5Ht2a receptor in MO3-13 cells. MO3-13 cells were incubated for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS before harvesting them for immunoprecipitation with IgG from 1 neurological (other neurological disorders affected patients, CTR) and 2 MS patients (MS1 and MS2) and immunoblot with anti-human 5Ht2a receptor antibody. I.D. indicate the immunodepleted and I.P. the immunoprecipitated samples.

FIG. 3: Binding between serum IgG from neurological or MS patients and 5-HT2a receptor. HEK-293 cells transfected with 5-HT2aR-EGFP construct (lower panel) were resuspended in 200 μl PBS and then incubated with mouse serum for 30 min at 4° C., to block non specific binding. Then cells were incubated for 30 min with 200 μg of serum IgG from MS (IgGMS) or neurological (other neurological disorders affected patients, IgGCtr), and stained for 30 min with PE-conjugated goat anti human IgG. Cells were washed and resuspended in 200 μL of PBS for flow cytometric analysis. EGFP-positive cells, corresponding to the R2 region shown in the FSC/SSC dot blot panel, were 43.8%. The value reported inside each FSC/FL-2 dot blot, represent the percent of FL-2 positive cells inside the R2 region (GFP-positive cells). The upper panel shows the binding of serum Ig (MS or neurological (N) patients) to mock transfected cells. In each panel, control cells incubated with secondary antibody alone, are shown.

FIGS. 4A and 4B: 5Ht2a receptor interacts with NOX3 in MO3-13 cells. (A) PCR analysis of NOXs in MO3-13 cells. Total mRNA was extracted with Trizol, reverse transcribed and analyzed by PCR with specific primers to NOX1, NOX2, NOX3, NOX4 and NOX5. The PCR analysis was carried out at 35 number of cycles. CTR-represents negative control without template. (B) MO3-13 cells were incubated for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS before harvesting them for immunoprecipitation with anti-human NOX3 antibody and immunoblot with anti-human 5Ht2a receptor antibody. I.D. shows the immunodepleted and I.P. immunoprecipitated samples. M, Molecular Weight Marker.

FIG. 5: IgG from MS patients bind to NOX3 in MO3-13 cells. MO3-13 cells were incubated for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS before harvesting them for immunoprecipitation with IgG from 3 neurological (other neurological disorders affected patients, CTR1, CTR2 and CTR3) and 3 MS patients (MS1, MS2 and MS3) and immunoblot with human anti-NOX3 antibody. The image shows the blots of two different experiments. I.D. shows the immunodepleted and I.P. the immunoprecipitated samples. Asterisks indicate NOX3 band.

FIG. 6: Dose—response curves of the interaction between MS sera and DDSK peptide. (A) Sera of Multiple Sclerosis patients and Control (control group is defined in material and method below) (200 μg) were incubated with different concentrations (50-100-250 μM) of peptide DDSK. For the detection, inventors used a secondary antibody anti human IgG conjugated with HRP and (3,3′,5,5′-Tetramethylbenzidine) TMB solution that was added for each well and incubated for 15-30 min. Equal volume of stopping solution (2 M H2SO4) was added to the plate and absorbance (optical density) of plate was read at 450 nm. The statistical analysis derived from 9 experiments. Values are mean±SEM. *P<0.05 MS vs CTRL (B) Linear representation of dose—response curve Values are mean±SEM. *P<0.05 MS vs CTRL.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C and 7D: MS sera recognize specially receptor's peptides. Sera of Control, Multiple Sclerosis or treated with interferon Multiple Sclerosis patients (200 μg) were incubated in absence (uncoated) or presence of 100 μM scrambled peptide (A and C), DDSK (B) and LYGY (D). For the detection, the inventors used a secondary antibody anti human conjugated with HRP and (3,3′,5,5′-Tetrannethylbenzidine) TMB solution that was added for each well and incubated for 15-30 min. Equal volume of stopping solution (2 M H2SO4) was added to the plate and absorbance (optical density) of plate was read at 450 nm. The statistical analysis derived from 3 experiments. Values are mean±SEM. *P<0.01 MS and MS Treat vs CTRL.

FIGS. 8A and 8B: DDSK peptide shows high sensitivity and specificity to sera MS. A. Sera of Multiple Sclerosis patients and Control (200 μg) were incubated in absence (uncoated) or presence of 100 μM of DDSK peptide. For the detection, the inventors used a secondary antibody anti human IgG conjugated with HRP and (3,3′,5,5′-Tetrannethylbenzidine) TMB solution that was added for each well and incubated for 15-30 min. Equal volume of stopping solution (2M H2SO4) was added to the plate and absorbance (optical density) of plate was read at 450 nm. The statistical analysis derived from 28 experiments. Values are mean±SEM. *P<0.001 MS vs CTRL. B. ROC test of averages of the pool shows a sensitivity of 82% and a specifity of 96% to MS patients respect to CTR patients sera (n=28).

FIG. 9A: IgG from MS patients inhibit 5Ht-mediated P-ERK induction in HEK-293 cells transfected with 5HT2aR-EGFP construct. HEK-293 cells were transfected with a plasmid containing the human 5-HT2A receptor gene conjugated to the enhanced green fluorescent protein, EGFP. Cells, harvested for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS, were then stimulated with 5 uM 5Ht for 15 min in the presence or absence of 200 ug/ml of serum IgG from MS (IgGMS) or Neurological patients (IgGCtr). Then cells were harvested and lysates were subjected to immunoblot analysis for P-EKR1/2 levels. The histograms shows the values (means±SEM) relative to 5-HT2 stimulated sample, obtained by densitometric analysis of protein bands normalized to α-Tubulin of three independent experiments. NT indicates not transfected cells and CTR, cells transfected with empty plasmid. The values in brackets inside the hystograms indicate the numbers of Ig tested for each group of patients. The lower part of the figure shows a representative experiment. *p<0.001 vs IgGCtr FIG. 9B: The serotonin receptor antagonist risperidone reverts the effects of IgG from MS patients on pERK1/2 levels in MO3-13 cells. Western blotting analysis of P-ERK1/2 levels in M03-13 cells harvested for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS, preincubated with risperidone (Risp) (10 uM) for 30 min in serum-free medium and then stimulated for 30 min with IgG (200 μg/ml) purified from serum of Control (IgCtr) or MS (IgMS) patients. The same membrane was also incubated with α-Tubulin antibody to show the protein loading.

FIG. 10A: DDSK peptide reverts the effects of Ig from MS patients on ROS levels in MO3-13 cells. MO3-13 cells were grown to semi-confluence in 24 multiwell plates and incubated for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS. The cells were washed twice with FBS free medium, incubated with 50 μM of DDSK for 30 min and then with 200 μg/ml of IgG from Control (IgGCtr) or MS (IgGMS) patients for 30 min. Then, the cells were incubated with 10 μM DCHF-DA for 10 min, washed three times and DCF fluorescence was measured using a plate reader fluorometer. The histograms show the mean+/−SEM values obtained in 5 different experiments from 7 control and 7 MS subjects. #p<0.05 vs IgGCtr; *p<0.05 vs IgGMS.

FIG. 10B: Scrambled peptide does not influence IgMS effects on ROS levels in MO3-13 cells. MO3-13 cells were grown to semi-confluence in 24 multiwell plates and incubated for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS. The cells were washed twice with FBS free medium, incubated with 50 μM of Scrambled peptide (Sc) for 30 min and then with 200 μg/ml of IgG from Control (IgGCtr) or MS (IgGMS) patients for 30 min. Then, the cells were incubated with 10 μM DCHF-DA for 10 min, washed three times and DCF fluorescence was measured using a plate reader fluorometer. The histograms show the mean+/−SEM values obtained from 3 control and 3 MS subjects. *p<0.05 vs IgGCtr.

FIG. 11: DDSK peptide reverts the effects of Ig from MS patients on DUOX1/2 protein levels in MO3-13 cells. Western blotting analysis of DUOX1/2 expression levels in M03-13 cells harvested for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS, preincubated with DDSK (50 uM) for 30 min in serum-free medium and then stimulated for 30 min with IgG (200 μg/ml) purified from serum of Control (IgCtr) or MS (IgMS) patients. The histogram shows the values (means+/−SEM) relative to control (not stimulated cells) obtained by densitometric analysis of protein bands normalized to α-Tubulin of three independent experiments. *p<0.05 vs IgCtr; **p<0.05 vs IgMS. The lower part of the figure shows a representative experiment.

FIG. 12: DDSK peptide reverts the effects of Ig from MS patients on P-ERK1/2 protein levels in MO3-13 cells. Western blotting analysis of P-ERK1/2 expression levels in M03-13 cells harvested for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS, preincubated with DDSK (50 uM) for 30 min in serum-free medium and then stimulated for 30 min with IgG (200 μg/ml) purified from serum of Control (Ig Ctr) or MS (IgMS) patients. The histogram shows the values (means+/−SEM) relative to control (not stimulated cells) obtained by densitometric analysis of protein bands normalized to α-Tubulin of three independent experiments. *p<0.05 vs IgCtr; **p<0.05 vs IgMS. The lower part of the figure shows a representative experiment.

FIG. 13: DDSK peptide reverts the effects of Ig from MS patients on NOX3 protein levels in MO3-13 cells. Western blotting analysis of NOX3 expression levels in M03-13 cells harvested for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS, preincubated with DDSK (50 uM) for 30 min in serum-free medium and then stimulated for 30 min with IgG (200 μg/ml) purified from serum of Control (IgCtr) or MS (IgMS) patients. The histogram shows the values (means+/−SEM) relative to control (not stimulated cells) obtained by densitometric analysis of protein bands normalized to α-Tubulin of three independent experiments. *p<0.05 vs IgCtr; **p<0.05 vs IgMS. The lower part of the figure shows a representative experiment.

FIG. 14: DDSK peptide reverts the effects of Ig from MS patients on H-Ras protein levels in MO3-13 cells. Western blotting analysis of H-Ras expression levels in M03-13 cells harvested for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS, preincubated with DDSK (50 uM) for 30 min in serum-free medium and then stimulated for 30 min with IgG (200 μg/ml) purified from serum of Control (Ig Ctr) or MS (IgMS) patients. The same membrane was incubated with α-Tubulin antibody to show the protein loading.

FIG. 15: Multiple sequence alignments of peptides of the invention with the extracellular loops of the 5-HT2A receptor. Alignments show that each extracellular region of the 5HT2A receptor has an high affinity for MS sera.

FIGS. 16A and 16B: Multiple sequence alignments of peptides of the invention with the extracellular loops of the NOX2. Alignments show that extracellular region of loop 2 (panel A) and loop 3 (panel B) of the NOX2 has an high affinity for MS sera.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Materials and Methods

Patients

In the study MS group comprises men and women between 15 and 50 years of age who meet all the following criteria:

-   -   diagnosis of relapsing/remitting MS, according to McDonald         criteria;     -   an Expanded Disability Scale Score (EDSS) between O and 5.0;     -   lesions detected by MRI compatible with the diagnosis of         multiple sclerosis;     -   at least one acute episode in the last 12 months.

Control samples include other neurological disorders affected patients (including inflammatory, degenerative diseases not involving direct or indirect de-myelinization, i. e.: cerebral cancers, stroke, vasculitis, etc) that need differential diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. Control patients were selected by sex and age to be similar to multiple sclerosis patients. Blood serum was collected, from each patients. From the blood serum, to perform the experiments on cell culture, the IgG fractions were purified.

Patients gave written informed consent before any study-related procedures was performed.

Purification of Immunoglobulins

The purification of IgG fractions from serum of MS and control Neurological subjects has been carried out by affinity chromatography on A/G Sepharose columns (Pierce, Rockford, Ill.). The protein concentration of immunoglobulin fractions has been assessed spectrophotometrically.

Cell Cultures

M03-13 CELLS—The M03-13 cells are an immortal human-human hybrid cell line with the phenotypic characteristics of primary oligodendrocytes (OLs), derived from the fusion of a 6-thioguanine-resistant mutant of a human rhabdomyosarcoma with OLs obtained from adult human brain (CELLution Biosystem Inc., Canada). They were grown in Dulbecco's Modified Eagles Medium (DMEM; GIBCO Invitrogen), containing 4.5 g/L glucose (GIBCO, Auckland, New Zealand), supplemented with 10% Foetal Bovine Serum, 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 μg/ml streptomycin (FBS; Sigma S. Louis, USA).

HEK293 CELLS—HEK293 is a cell line derived from human embryonic kidney cells (American Type Culture Collection, ATCC, USA). They were grown in Dulbecco's Modified Eagles Medium (DMEM; GIBCO Invitrogen), containing 4.5 g/L glucose (GIBCO, Auckland, New Zealand), supplemented with 10% FBS, 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 μg/ml (Sigma S. Louis, USA).

Hela and SH-SY5Y CELLS—The human cervical adenocarcinoma Hela cells and the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell lines (American Type Culture Collection, ATCC, USA) were grown in DMEM-F12 medium (GIBCO Invitrogen) containing 4.5 g/L glucose (GIBCO, Auckland, New Zealand), supplemented with 10% FBS (Sigma S. Louis, USA), 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 μg/ml

The cells were kept in a 5% CO2 and 95% air atmosphere at 37° C.

Flow Cytometric Assay of 5-Ht2AR

M03-13 cells were grown to semiconfluency in 60-mm culture dishes. After trypsin detachment, 5·10⁵ cells were suspended in 1 mL of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and fixed overnight with 1% formaldehyde at room temperature. Next, cells were permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100 for 40 min at 4° C., washed 4× with 2 mL of PBS containing 2% FBS, 0.01% NaN3, 0.1% Triton X-100 (buffer A), and incubated for 45 min at 4° C. with 1:50 dilution of Rabbit polyclonal to 5HT2aR antibody (Abcam ab81864). The cells were then washed twice with the same buffer and incubated for 45 min at 4° C. with Cy3-conjugated anti-(rabbit IgG) Ig (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) at 1:50 dilution. Control cells were incubated with Cy3-conjugated anti-(rabbit IgG) IgG alone. After two washes in buffer A, cells were resuspended in PBS and analyzed by flow cytometry using FACSCAN (BD, Heidelberg, Germany) and WINMDI software.

Flow Cytometric Assay of Serum IgG Binding to 5-HT2aR.

HEK293 cells were plated in 100 mm Petri dishes and grown to semiconfluence. After trypsinization and wash in PBS, the cells were resuspended in 200 μl PBS and then incubated with mouse serum for 30 min at 4° C., to block nonspecific binding; then, they were incubated for 30 min with 200 μg of serum IgG (MS or neurological), and stained for 30 min with PE-conjugated goat anti human IgG. Cells were washed and resuspended in 200 μL of PBS for flow cytometric analysis of phycoerythrin positive cells with a FACSscan apparatus (Becton-Dickinson). Data were analyzed using WinMDI software.

Immunoprecipitation and Immunoblotting Experiments

MO3-13 cells, grown to semiconfluence in 100 mm dishes, were incubated for 18 h in 0.2% FBS medium.

The cells were washed twice with PBS and harvested in cold RIPA buffer containing 2.5 mM Na-pyrophosphate, 1 mM R-glycerophosphate, 1 mM NaVO4, 1 mM NaF, 0.5 mM PMSF, and the cocktail of protease inhibitors. The cells were kept for 15 min at 4° C. and disrupted by repeated aspiration through a 21-gauge needle. Cellular debris was pelleted by centrifugation at 11600 g for 15 min at 4° C. 300 μg of cellular lysates were immunoprecipitated with IgG from Neurological or MS patients at 1:10 dilution. Samples were rocked gently for 16 h; thereafter 20 μl of protein A/G PLUS-Agarose (Santa Cruz Biotechnology), resuspended in RIPA buffer, was added to immunoprecipitates. Samples were further rocked for 1 h, centrifuged at 3000 rpm. Supernatants were collected and the protein A/G PLUS-Agarose was added again, to obtained the immunodepleted samples. Then, the pellets were washed thrice in RIPA buffer and once with PBS before the addition of 20 μl Laemmli sample buffer.

Immunoprecipitated/immunodepleted samples and 50 μg of total lysates in Laemmli buffer were boiled for 5 min and centrifuged for 1 min at 11600 g at room temperature (22° C.). The pellets were discarded and supernatants were resolved by 7.5% SDS-PAGE and transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane.

Next, the membrane was blocked in 3% dry-fat milk in TBS-Tween20 (0.05%) and probed with a polyclonal anti-human anti NOX3 (Abcam ab81864) or 5HT-2a receptor (Abcam ab85496) antibodies at 1:1000 dilution. Then, the membrane was washed and incubated with a secondary horseradish peroxidase-linked antibody (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) 1:2000 and was detected by ECL.

Indirect ELISA

Diluted peptide (20 μg/ml) was coated to the wells of a PVC microtiter plate and incubated at 4° C. overnight. After many wash, the remaining protein-binding sites was blocked with 3% BSA solution and incubated at 4° C. overnight. The patient extracted immunoglobulins was diluted in blocking buffer and incubated at 4° C. overnight. The plate was washed for four times with PBS.

For the detection, we used a secondary antibody anti human (recognized constant region of the patient antibody conjugated with HRP and (3,3′,5,5′-Tetramethylbenzidine) TMB solution that was added for each well and incubated for 15-30 min. Equal volume of stopping solution (2 M H2SO4) was added to the plate and absorbance (optical density) of plate was read at 450 nm.

ELISA with Beads

Beads linked Peptide (6×10⁴ beads/sample) were mixed with different concentrations of patient extracted immunoglobulins for 16 h at 4° C. in a rotator. The beads were washed twice with PBS by centrifugation at 14,000 rpm for 2 min at room temperature and were resuspended in 100

μl of PBS. For the detection, we used a secondary antibody anti human (recognized constant region of the patient antibody conjugated with HRP and (3,3′,5,5′-Tetramethylbenzidine) TMB solution that was added for each well and incubated for 15-30 min. Equal volume of stopping solution (2 M H2SO4) was added to the plate and absorbance (optical density) of plate was read at 450 nm.

Detection of Peptide/Immunoglobulins Derived from Patients Interaction on Beads by Flow Cytometry

Beads linked Peptide (6×10⁴ beads/sample) were mixed with different concentrations of patient extracted immunoglobulins for 16 h at 4° C. in a rotator. The beads were washed twice with PBS by centrifugation at 14,000 rpm for 2 min at room temperature and were resuspended in 100 μl of PBS. Then, the samples was incubated with anti-human secondary antibodies conjugated with FITCH and beads were analyzed on a BD FACS Calibur (Becton-Dick-inson, Franklin Lakes, N.J.), and the data analyzed on FlowJo (Treestar, Ashland, Oreg.) software.

Determination of Reactive Oxygen Species

ROS levels were determined using the membrane-permeant fluorogenic probe 5,6-carboxy-2′,7′-dichlorofluoresceindiacetate, DCHFDA (Molecular Probes, Leiden, the Netherlands). The assay was based on the fluorescence detection of dichlorofluorescein (DCF), formed by ROS-mediated oxidation of the non-fluorescent precursor, dichlorofluorescin.

MO3-13 cells were grown to semi-confluence in 24 multiwell plates (45000 cell/well) and incubated for 18 h in medium containing 0.2% FBS before the experiments. The cells were washed twice with FBS free medium and incubated with 50 μM of DDSK for 30 min at 37° C. and then with 200 μg/ml of IgG from Ctr or MS patients (Damiano et al., 2013) for 30 min at 37° C. The cells were incubated with 10 μM DCHF-DA for 10 min and washed three times with PBS containing 10 mM glucose, 1.2 mM MgCl₂ and 1.2 mM CaCl₂. DCF fluorescence was measured using the plate reader Fluoroskan Ascent FL fluorometer (Thermo Electron Oy, Vantaa, Finland) and data analyzed by Ascent software.

To evaluate the effects of 5Ht on ROS levels, a dose of 50 μM of the substance was added to the cells after DCHF-DA incubation and DCF fluorescence was measured at different time intervals.

Semi-Quantitative PCR Analysis

Total RNA was extracted using Trizol reagent according to the protocol provided by the manufacturer (Sigma-Aldrich). Total RNA (1 μg) was reverse transcribed using Transcriptor First Strand cDNA Syn-thesis Kit (Roche Applied Science, Monza, Italy) by oligo-dT primers for 30 min at 55° C. in a 20 μl reaction volume. Semi-quantitative PCR was performed using Hot Master TaqDNA Polymerase (5PRIME) in 20 μl final volume containing 0.2 mM dNTP, 0.2 μM of the specific primers and 100 ng of sample cDNA. The PCR conditions used were 94° C. 2 min, (94° C. 30 s, 60° C. 30 s, 70° C. 30 s) and 70° C. 5 min. The reactions were carried out at 35 number of cycles.

Primers used in these experiments are the following:

Human NOX1:  (F),  (SEQ ID NO: 159) TTA ACA GCA CGC TGA TCC TG  (R),  (SEQ ID NO: 160) CAC TCC AGTGAG ACC AGC AA. Human cytochrome b-245, beta polypeptide  (CYBB, alias NOX2):  (F),  (SEQ ID NO: 161) GGA GTT TCA AGA TGC GTG GAA ACT A  (R),  (SEQ ID NO: 162) GCC AGA CTC AGAGTT GGA GAT GCT. Human NOX 3:  (F),  (SEQ ID NO: 163) CCA GGG CAG TAC ATC TTG GT  (R),  (SEQ ID NO: 164) CCG TGTTTC CAG GGA GAG TA. Human NOX4:  (F),  (SEQ ID NO: 165) GCT TAC CTC CGA GGA TCA CA  (R),  (SEQ ID NO: 166) CGG GAGGGT GGG TAT CTA A. Human NOX 5:  (F),  (SEQ ID NO: 167) ATC AAG CGG CCC CCT TTT TTT CAC  (R),  (SEQ ID NO: 168) CTCATT GTC ACA CTC CTC GAC AGC. Human 5HT2A:  (F) (SEQ ID NO: 169) TCATCATGGCAGTGTCCCTA (R), (SEQ ID NO: 170) TGAGGGAGGAAGCTGAAAGA. B-actin:  (F)  (SEQ ID NO: 171) TCACCCTGAAGTACCCCATC  (R),  (SEQ ID NO: 172) GGCTGGAAGAGTGCCTCA.

Plasmid

h-5HT2aR/EGFP construct: h-5HT2aR gene (NCBI Accession Number: NP_000612) has been inserted in the pEGFP-N3 vector from Clontech. The cDNA is cloned between BamHI and BgIII sites in the MCS.

Transfections

The cells were transfected with h-5HT2aR/EGFP construct. One day before transfection, 450.000 cells (HEK293) were plated in 35 mm dishes in growth medium so that cells will be 70-90% confluent at the time of transfection. For each transfection sample, complexes were prepared as follows:

-   -   1 γ/λ DNA (5-HT2a receptor conjugated to EGFP) was added to 80         μl of growth medium without serum and antibiotics.     -   4 μl of Lipofectamine™ 2000 was added to 80 μl of growth medium         without serum and antibiotics.     -   The diluted DNA was combined with diluted Lipofectamine™ 2000,         mixed gently and incubated for 45 minutes at room temperature.         Then the complexes were added to cells.     -   Cells were incubated at 37° C. in a CO2 incubator for 18-48         hours prior to testing.

Western Blotting Analysis

Antibodies. DUOX 1 and 2 proteins were detected with a rabbit polyclonal antibody raised against the peptide sequence ETELTPQRLQC located inside the first intracellular loop of human DUOX1 (Damiano et al., PlosOne). P-ERK1/2 (sc-7383) and HaRas (sc-520) antibodies were purchased by Santa Cruz; NOX3 (ab81864) and h-5HT2aR antibodies (ab85496) were purchased by Abcam.

Total cells lysates were obtained in RIPA buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, NaCl 150 mM, 1% NP40, 0.5% deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS) containing 2.5 mM Na-pyrophosphate, 1 mM β-glycerophosphate, 1 mM NaVO4, 1 mM NaF, 0.5 mM PMSF, and a cocktail of protease inhibitors (Roche, USA). The cells were kept for 15 min at 4° C. and disrupted by repeated aspiration through a 21-gauge needle. Cell lysates were centrifuged for 10 min at 13000 rpm and the pellets were discarded. Fifty micrograms of total proteins were subjected to SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions. After electrophoresis, the proteins were transferred onto a nitrocellulose filter membrane (Bio-Rad Laboratories, UK) with a Trans-Blot Cell (Bio-Rad Laboratories, UK) and transfer buffer containing 25 mM Tris, 192 mM glycine, 20% methanol. Membranes were placed in 5% non-fat milk in phosphate-buffered saline, 0.5% Tween 20 (TBST) at 4° C. for 2 h to block the nonspecific binding sites. Filters were incubated with specific antibodies before being washed three times in TBST and then incubated with a peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody (Santa Cruz). After washing with TBST, peroxidase activity was detected with the ECL system (GE-Healthcare, UK).

The filters were also probed with an anti α-tubulin antibody (Sigma, USA). Protein bands were revealed by ECL and, when specified, quantified by densitometry using Image) software. Densitometric values were normalized to α-tubulin.

Since, depending on the cell type or tissue, bands of different sizes can appear by Western blotting for 5HT2aR (fragments or protein complexes), to determine which bands are specific, before proceeding with the staining protocol, the antibody was incubated with an excess of peptide that correspond to the epitope recognized by the antibody. By comparing the staining from the blocking antibody vs the antibody alone it has been possible to evidence the specific 5HT2aR staining.

Peptide Synthesis and Screening Assays

The linear and CLIPS peptides are synthesized based on the amino acid sequence of the target protein using standard Fmoc-chemistry and deprotected using trifluoric acid with scavengers. The constrained peptides are synthesized on chemical scaffolds in order to reconstruct conformational epitopes, using Chemically Linked Peptides on Scaffolds (CLIPS) technology (Timmerman et al. (2007). For example, the single looped peptides are synthesized containing a dicysteine, which was cyclized by treating with alpha, alpha′-dibromoxylene and the size of the loop is varied by introducing cysteine residues at variable spacing. If other cysteines besides the newly introduced cysteines are present, they are replaced by alanine. The side-chains of the multiple cysteines in the peptides are coupled to CLIPS templates by reacting onto credit-card format polypropylene PEPSCAN cards (455 peptide formats/card) with a 0.5 mM solution of CLIPS template such as 1,3-bis (bromomethyl) benzene in ammonium bicarbonate (20 mM, pH 7.9)/acetonitrile (1:1(v/v)). The cards are gently shaken in the solution for 30 to 60 minutes while completely covered in solution. Finally, the cards are washed extensively with excess of H₂O and sonicated in distrupt-buffer containing 1 percent SDS/0.1 percent beta-mercaptoethanol in PBS (pH 7.2) at 70° C. for 30 minutes, followed by sonication in H₂O for another 45 minutes.

The binding of antibody to each peptide is tested in a PEPSCAN-based ELISA. The 455-well credit card format polypropylene cards containing the covalently linked peptides are incubated with primary antibody solution for example consisting of 1/1000 diluted serum in blocking solution, for example 4% horse serum, 5% ovalbumin (w/v) in PBS/1% Tween. After washing, the peptides are incubated with a 1/1000 dilution of antibody peroxidase conjugate for one hour at 25° C. After washing, the peroxidase substrate 2,2′-azino-di-3-ethylbenzthiazoline sulfonate (ABTS) and 2 microlitres of 3 percent H₂O₂ are added. After one hour, the color development are measured. The color development are quantified with a charge coupled device (CCD)—camera and an image processing system (Slootstra et al., 1996).

The raw data are optical values obtained by a CCD-camera calibrated to export absorption values compatible with a standard 96-well plate ELISA-reader. First the CCD-camera makes a picture of the card before peroxidase coloring and then again a picture after the peroxidase coloring. These two pictures are subtracted from each other yielding a binding value for each peptide. This data is entered in the Peplab™ database for secure storage and retrieval.

All raw data are provided in an excel file and the full technical report include plots of the binding activity to all peptides and a 3D visualization of all epitope candidates identified.

Methods are described in Timmerman et al. (2007). Functional reconstruction and synthetic mimicry of a conformational epitope using CLIPS' technology). Structural aspects of antibody-antigen interaction revealed through small random peptide libraries (Slootstra et al., 1996).

Co-Culture of Cortical Neurons and OPCs

Primary cultures of cortical OPCs and neurons are prepared as described by Cheli et al. (2015). For OPCs preparation, cerebral hemispheres from 1 day old mice are mechanically dissociated and plated on poly-D-lysine-coated flasks in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium and Ham's F12 (1:1 v/v), containing 100 μg/ml gentamicin and supplemented with 4 mg/ml dextrose anhydrous, 3.75 mg/ml HEPES buffer, 2.4 mg/ml sodium bicarbonate and 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). After 24 h the medium is changed and the cells are grown in DMEM/F12 supplemented with insulin (5 μg/ml), human transferrin (50 μg/ml), sodium selenite (30 nM), D-Biotin (10 mM), 0.1% BSA (Sigma), 1% FBS and 1% horse serum. After 9 days, OPCs are purified from the mixed glial culture by the differential shaking and adhesion procedure and allowed to grow on poly-Dlysine-coated coverslips in culture media plus PDGF (10 ng/ml) and bFGF (10 ng/ml). OPCs are kept in mitogens (PDGF and bFGF) for 2 days and then induced to exit from the cell cycle and differentiate by switching the cells to a mitogen-free medium (mN2).

Cortical neurons are prepared from the brains of 1- to 2-day-old mouse. Brain cortices are isolated and dissociated by digestion with a solution of 0.05% trypsin (Sigma) containing DNase I (0.06%) in Neurobasal medium for 10 min at 37° C. The digestion reaction is stopped with Neurobasal medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum and triturated by repeated passages (20 times) through a 10 ml pipette. The cell suspension is filtered through a sterile cell strainer (70 μm) into a 50 ml centrifuge tube. The cells are pelleted by centrifugation at 200 g for 5 min, and resuspended in Neurobasal medium plus 2% (v/v) B27 supplemented with 0.25 mM GlutaMax I, 0.25 mM glutamine (Invitrogen), and 100 μg/ml gentamicin. High-density cultures (5×105 cells, ˜2500 cells/mm2) are plated onto 20 mm² tissue culture wells coated with poly-d-lysine. The neurons are kept at 37° C. in 95% air 5% CO2 for 7 days in vitro and used for co-cultures. After 7 days in vitro, cortical neuron cultures consist of neurons essentially free from non-neural cells.

Co-cultures are prepared by the addition of OPCs to the cultures of cortical neurons at a density of 3×105 cells/ml. These cultures are maintained in DMEM/F12, 1% FBS for 7 and 14 days (Cheli et al., 2015).

The neuron-OPC co-colture model allows the evaluation of the myelination stage of mature OL, by confocal microscopy categorizing them in three different stages: (1) cells that only extend processes but do not contact with neurofilaments; (2) cells that establish contact with neurofilaments but do not myelinate; and (3) cells that wrap axons and have at least two internodes connected to the cell body (Barateiro and Fernandes, 2014).

Scratch Assay

M03-13 cell migration is assessed by in vitro scratch assay, based on the creation of an artificial gap on a confluent cell monolayer. M03-13 cells are grown in complete medium and when cells reach 70-80% confluence, a wound is made across the cell layer using a cell scraper. Then cultures are washed in complete medium and are allowed to migrate for 24-48 h and the number of cells that moved across the injury line is counted at microscope.

Fluorimetric Measurement of Intracellular Ca²⁺

Intracellular Ca²⁺ levels are measured fluorimetrically using the membrane-permeable Ca²⁺-sensitive dye Fluo-3-AM. Briefly, cells are washed twice with US buffer (137 mN NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 1.0 mM MgCl₂, 1.8 mM CaCl₂, 0.2 mM NaH₂PO₄, 12 Mm NaHCO₃, 5.5 mM glucose, pH 7.4) and incubated with 10 μm Fluo-3-AM and 0.02% pluronic acid for 1 h at room temperature in the dark. Cells are then washed twice with US, before adding the substances to be tested and the changes in fluorescence is measured at different time intervals using Fluoroskan Ascent fluorescent plate reader (ThermoElectron Oy, Vantaa, Finland) and data analyzed by Ascent software.

Induction of EAE (Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis) as Murine Model for Human Multiple Sclerosis

Mice will be immunized subcutaneously with 100 ml of emulsified incomplete Freund's adjuvant supplemented with 500 mg of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra (Difco) and 100 mg of MOG35-55, and will receive an intraperitoneal injection of 200 ng of pertussis toxin (List Biological Laboratories) at the time of immunization and 48 hours later. The mice will be observed daily for clinical signs and scored as described (Shi et al., 2011). Mice will be euthanized, and brains and spinal cords will be removed and fixed by immersion with a 10% neutral-buffered formalin solution and decalcified. Fixed tissues will be embedded in paraffin, sectioned, and stained with H&E and serial histological sections will be stained also immunohistochemically to determine the distribution and types of inflammatory cells in the brain and spinal cord and the demyelination. Spinal cord pathology will be assigned by scores with an experienced pathologist as described previously (Shi et al., 2011)

Annexin V/Propidium Iodide Apoptosis Assay

2-4×10⁶ cells are resuspend in 100 μL 1×Annexin V binding buffer. 5 μL Annexin V Alexa Fluor 488 was added to the samples and incubated in the dark for 15 minutes at room temperature. 100 μL of 1×Annexin V binding buffer and 4 μL of PI at final PI concentration of 2 μg/mL are added to each reaction tube.

The samples are incubated in the dark for 15 minutes at room temperature. The cells are washed with 500 μL 1×Annexin V binding buffer. Samples centrifuged at 335×g for 10 minutes and supernatant decanted. Cells are resuspended in 500 μL 1×Annexin V binding buffer and 500 μL 2% formaldehyde to create a 1% formaldehyde (fixative) solution. Tubes are mixed by gentle flicking and fixed on ice for 10 minutes.

The cells are washed with PBS and diluted with RNase A at the final concentration of 50 μg/mL and incubated for 15 min at 37° C. The tubes are centrifuged at 425×g for eight minutes and samples are analyzed by cytofluorimetry.

Statistical Analysis

Statistical differences were evaluated using a Student's t-test for unpaired samples.

Results

IgG from MS Patients Interact with 5Ht2A Receptor

5-HT2aR protein expression in M03-13 cells was evaluated by indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometry (FIG. 1A) and by Western blotting analysis (FIG. 1B). As can be shown in the figure, M03-13 cells express 5Ht2a receptor protein. Since, depending on the cell line, 5Ht2a receptor protein can appear as fragments of the full antigen or a complex containing the antigen, with different molecular weights, inventors performed Western blotting experiments preincubating the primary antibody in the absence or presence of a tow fold excess of immunizing peptide; in the presence of the peptide, the specific bands disappear or are attenuated. As shown by the immunized blocking peptide experiment (FIG. 1B, right panel), in M03-13 cells the 5HT2aR appears as a double band of 20-30 kD. The PCR analysis of human 5HT2aR (FIG. 1C) shows that M03-13 cells, and not the human embryonic kidney cell line HEK293, express 5HT2aR mRNA.

To evaluate the hypothesis of the presence of IgG directed against 5HT2aR in the serum from MS patients, M03-13 cells were immunoprecipitated with IgG from Control and MS subjects and then immunoblotted with anti h-5HT2aR antibody. As shown in FIG. 2, Multiple Sclerosis IgG immunoprecipitated 5HT2aR protein demonstrating a direct interaction between serum IgG MS and the receptor protein.

To confirm the direct interaction between IgG MS and 5-HT2AR, we performed flow cytometric surface binding experiments on HEK293 cells transfected in transient with the h-5HT2aR/EGFP construct. Neither the IgG from control subjects (IgN), nor those from MS patients (IgG MS) significantly bound to the surface of mock transfected cells (FIG. 3, upper panel). In cells transfected with h-5HT2aR/EGFP construct (lower panel), the binding of IgG to transfected cells, calculated on GFP positive cell population, was 26% for IgN, and 77% for IgMS. This experiment indicates, therefore, the existence of a specific binding of the IgG MS at the cell surface of the HEK293 cells transfected with 5HT2aR.

NOX3 Interacts with 5HT2aR

As shown in FIG. 4, M03-13 cells express the NOX enzyme family members NOX3 and NOX5 isoforms (FIG. 4A).

The inventors focused their attention on NOX3 since this isoform shows a higher percentage of identity (58.8) with NOX2 than NOX5 (32.6%). NOX2 is expressed in oligodendrocytes in vivo (Cavaliere et al., 2013). In particular, NOX3 extracellular domains show a certain degree of identity with NOX2 extracellular domains. This is not the case for NOX5.

The inventors first evaluated whether NOX3 directly interacts with 5HT2aR by immunoprecipitation of cell extract with anti h-NOX3 antibody followed by Western blotting with anti h-5HT2aR antibody. As shown in FIG. 4B, anti NOX3 antibodies immunoprecipitated 5HT2aR protein. The receptor staining was significantly decreased in the immunodepleted sample.

IgG from MS Patients Interact with NOX3

The inventors further evaluated whether IgG from MS patients interact with NOX3 in MO3-13 cells. To this aim M03-13 cells were immunoprecipitated with IgG from Control and MS subjects and then immunoblotted with anti h-NOX3 antibody. As shown in FIG. 5, IgMS immunoprecipitated NOX3 protein demonstrating a direct interaction between serum IgG from MS patients and NOX3.

Overall, our data suggest that IgGs from MS patients bind to 5HT2aR and to NOX3. Since NOX3 binds to 5HT2aR, it is possible that a membrane protein complex constituted by 5HT2aR, NOX3 and the IgGs from MS is present in M03-13 cells and in vivo.

Precision Epitope Mapping of NOX2 and 5-HT2A Receptor Extracellular Domains with the Serum from Multiple Sclerosis Affected Patients.

Approximately 1250 different peptides including linear and CLIPS peptides have been designed and synthesize based on NOX2 heavy chain amino acid sequence (SEQ ID 1) and other 1250 peptides were designed and synthesize based on the human 5-HT2A receptor amino acid sequence (SEQ ID 2). In particular, in both cases, only the extracellular domains of the proteins have been used for the design of the two peptide libraries. For NOX2 were selected the regions 30-48 (SEQ ID 3), 124-169 (SEQ ID 4) and 222-261 (SEQ ID 5) while for 5-HT2Ar were selected the regions 1-76 (SEQ ID 6), 133-148 (SEQ ID 7), 215-233 (SEQ ID 8), 347-362 (SEQ ID 9).

Sequence ID

SEQ ID 1: >sp|P04839|CY24B_HUMAN Cytochrome b-245 heavy chain OS = Homo sapiens GN = CYBB PE = 1 SV = 2 (NOX2) MGNWAVNEGLSIFVILVWLGLNVFLFVWYYRVYDIPPKFFYTRKLLGSA LALARAPAACLNFNCMLILLPVCRNLLSFLRGSSACCSTRVRRQLDRNL TFHKMVAWMIALHSAIHTIAHLFNVEWCVNARVNNSDPYSVALSELGDR QNESYLNFARKRIKNPEGGLYLAVTLLAGITGVVITLCLILIITSSTKT IRRSYFEVFWYTHHLFVIFFIGLAIHGAERIVRGQTAESLAVHNITVCE QKISEWGKIKECPIPQFAGNPPMTWKWIVGPMFLYLCERLVRFWRSQQK VVITKVVTHPFKTIELQMKKKGFKMEVGQYIFVKCPKVSKLEWHPFTLT SAPEEDFFSIHIRIVGDWTEGLFNACGCDKQEFQDAWKLPKIAVDGPFG TASEDVFSYEVVMLVGAGIGVTPFASILKSVWYKYCNNATNLKLKKIYF YWLCRDTHAFEWFADLLQLLESQMQERNNAGFLSYNIYLTGWDESQANH FAVHHDEEKDVITGLKQKTLYGRPNWDNEFKTIASQHPNTRIGVFLCGP EALAETLSKQSISNSESGPRGVHFIFNKENF SEQ ID 2: >sp|P28223|5HT2A_HUMAN 5-hydroxy- tryptamine receptor 2A OS = Homo sapiens GN = HTR2A PE = 1 SV = 2 MDILCEENTSLSSTTNSLMQLNDDTRLYSNDFNSGEANTSDAFNWTVDS ENRTNLSCEGCLSPSCLSLLHLQEKNWSALLTAVVIILTIAGNILVIMA VSLEKKLQNATNYFLMSLAIADMLLGFLVMPVSMLTILYGYRWPLPSKL CAVWIYLDVLFSTASIMHLCAISLDRYVAIQNPIHHSRFNSRTKAFLKI IAVWTISVGISMPIPVFGLQDDSKVFKEGSCLLADDNFVLIGSFVSFFI PLTIMVITYFLTIKSLQKEATLCVSDLGTRAKLASFSFLPQSSLSSEKL FQRSIHREPGSYTGRRTMQSISNEQKACKVLGIVFFLFVVMWCPFFITN IMAVICKESCNEDVIGALLNVFVWIGYLSSAVNPLVYTLFNKTYRSAFS RYIQCQYKENKKPLQLILVNTIPALAYKSSQLQMGQKKNSKQDAKTTDN DCSMVALGKQHSEEASKDNSDGVNEKVSCV SEQ ID 3: CY (NOX2) Loop 1: YRVYDIPPKFFYTRKLLGS SEQ ID 4: CY (NOX2) Loop 2: EWCVNARVNNSDPYSVALSELGDRQNESYLNFARKRIKNPEGGLYL SEQ ID 5: CY (NOX2) Loop 3: HGAERIVRGQTAESLAVHNITVCEQKISEWGKIKECPIPQ SEQ ID 6: N-terminal of 5HT2aR: 1-76 (76aa) MDILCEENTSLSSTTNSLMQLNDDTRLYSNDFNSGEANTSDAFNWTVDS ENRTNLSCEGCLSPSCLSLLHLQEKNW SEQ ID 7: Loop 1 of 5HT2aR: 133-148 (16aa) LTILYGYRWPLPSKLC SEQ ID 8: Loop 2 of 5HT2aR: 215-233 (19aa) LQDDSKVFKEGSCLLADDN SEQ ID 9: Loop 3 of 5HT2aR: 347-362 (16aa) VICKESCNEDVIGALL

All peptides have been synthesized in a peptide array format and the binding of 20 different sera to all peptide libraries were measured in an ELISA based set up following the procedure described in detail in the method section “Peptide synthesis and screening assays”. In particular 2 sets of experiments were performed on the 2 libraries by using 2 different dilutions of the human patients sera. In the first set of experiment the 20 sera were used at 1:2500 dilutions, while in the second experiment the dilution of the sera was 1:1000. The binding of the different sera to all peptides was quantified and analyzed in detail (Tables 1 and 2, FIGS. 15 and 16).

TABLE 1 List of peptide sequences from 5HT2A receptor library that are significantly recognized by the MS sera (n = 9) compared to CTRLs (n = 10) (p < 0.05). Peptide Sequence SEQ ID  1 CNSLMQLNDDTRLYCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 10 HTR.MAT  2 CLTILYGYRWPLPSCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 11 HTR.MAT  3 LTILYGYRWPAASKL SEQ ID NO: 12 HTR.LIN15AA  4 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 13 HTR.MAT  5 YRWPLPSKL SEQ ID NO: 14 HTR.LIN9  6 CNSLMQLNDDTRLYCLSSEGSLSPSSLSC SEQ ID NO: 15 HTR.MAT  7 CLQDDSKVFKEGSSCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 16 HTR.MAT  8 LTILYGYRWPLPSKL SEQ ID NO: 17 HTR.LIN15AA  9 CMQLNDDTRLYSNDCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 18 HTR.MAT 10 CLSPSSLSLLHLQECMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 19 HTR.MAT 11 CSTTNSLMQLNDDTCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 20 HTR.MAT 12 CLTILYGYRWPLPSCKESSNEDVIGALLC SEQ ID NO: 21 HTR.MAT 13 CTVDSENRTNLSSECMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 22 HTR.MAT 14 GYRWPLPSK SEQ ID NO: 23 HTR.LIN9 15 CMQLNDDTRLYSNDCSGEANTSDAFNWTC SEQ ID NO: 24 HTR.MAT 16 CDSKVFKEGSSLLACKESSNEDVIGALLC SEQ ID NO: 25 HTR.MAT 17 CENTSLSSTTNSLMCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 26 HTR.MAT 18 CSLSSTTNSLMQLNCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 27 HTR.MAT 19 CSLSSTTNSLMQLNCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 28 HTR.MAT 20 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCKESSNEDVIGALLC SEQ ID NO: 29 HTR.MAT 21 CMDILSEENTSLSSCMQLNDDTRLYSNDC SEQ ID NO: 30 HTR.MAT 22 CSDAFNWTVDSENRCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 31 HTR.MAT 23 TVDSENRTNLAAEGC SEQ ID NO: 32 HTR.LIN15AA 24 CNDDTRLYSNDFNSCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 33 HTR.MAT 25 CTVDSENRTNLSSECRTNLSSEGSLSPSC SEQ ID NO: 34 HTR.MAT 26 CLSSEGSLSPSSLSCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 35 HTR.MAT 27 CLSPSSLSLLHLQECTVDSENRTNLSSEC SEQ ID NO: 36 HTR.MAT 28 CDSKVFKEGSSLLACMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 37 HTR.MAT 29 TILYGYRWPLPSKLC SEQ ID NO: 38 HTR.LIN15AA 30 CFNWTVDSENRTNLCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 39 HTR.MAT 31 STTNSLMQLNAATRL SEQ ID NO: 40 HTR.LIN15AA 32 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCYSNDFNSGEANTSC SEQ ID NO: 41 HTR.MAT 33 QDDSKVFKEGAALLA SEQ ID NO: 42 HTR.LIN15AA 34 CNSLMQLNDDTRLYCYSNDFNSGEANTSC SEQ ID NO: 43 HTR.MAT 35 CLTILYGYRWPLPSKLC SEQ ID NO: 44 HTR.P2_15AA 36 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCSDAFNVVTVDSENRC SEQ ID NO: 45 HTR.MAT 37 CDSKVFKEGSSLLACSGEANTSDAFNWTC SEQ ID NO: 46 HTR.MAT 38 CVFKEGSSLLADDNCKESSNEDVIGALLC SEQ ID NO: 47 HTR.MAT 39 CLSEENTSLSSTTNCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 48 HTR.MAT 40 CLTILYGYRWPLPSCLYGYRWPLPSKLSC SEQ ID NO: 49 HTR.MAT 41 CLTILYGYRWPAASKLC SEQ ID NO: 50 HTR.P2_15AA 42 CTRLYSNDFNSGEACKESSNEDVIGALLC SEQ ID NO: 51 HTR.MAT 43 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCSGEANTSDAFNVVTC SEQ ID NO: 52 HTR.MAT 44 CMDILSEENTSLSSCSKESSNEDVIGALC SEQ ID NO: 53 HTR.MAT 45 CSSLSLLHLQEKNWCMDILSEENTSLSSC SEQ ID NO: 54 HTR.MAT 46 CDSKVFKEGSSLLACSENRTNLSSEGSLC SEQ ID NO: 55 HTR.MAT 47 CVFKEGSSLLADDNCSDAFNVVTVDSENRC SEQ ID NO: 56 HTR.MAT 48 CLQDDSKVFKEGSSCKESSNEDVIGALLC SEQ ID NO: 57 HTR.MAT Peptide Sequence MEAN MS SEM MS MEAN CTRL SEM CTRL P-value  1 CNSLMQLNDDTRLYCMDILSEENTSLSSC 445.78  64.60 252.10 39.78 0.01823  2 CLTILYGYRWPLPSCMDILSEENTSLSSC 421.56  68.75 228.85 35.30 0.01984  3 LTILYGYRWPAASKL 653.28 125.82 322.35 46.78 0.01994  4 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCMDILSEENTSLSSC 449.78  75.33 246.80 41.88 0.02701  5 YRWPLPSKL 566.00 113.14 285.70 42.28 0.02714  6 CNSLMQLNDDTRLYCLSSEGSLSPSSLSC 418.89  63.39 249.55 36.07 0.02908  7 CLQDDSKVFKEGSSCMDILSEENTSLSSC 434.67  78.17 233.80 39.09 0.02977  8 LTILYGYRWPLPSKL 647.17 123.46 340.05 54.05 0.03031  9 CMQLNDDTRLYSNDCMDILSEENTSLSSC 379.67  62.21 212.40 38.38 0.03169 10 CLSPSSLSLLHLQECMDILSEENTSLSSC 305.00  47.33 183.45 25.89 0.03322 11 CSTTNSLMQLNDDTCMDILSEENTSLSSC 321.28  53.13 186.85 29.61 0.03644 12 CLTILYGYRWPLPSCKESSNEDVIGALLC 629.14 113.96 350.93 55.40 0.03662 13 CTVDSENRTNLSSECMDILSEENTSLSSC 300.11  59.60 160.80 24.09 0.03779 14 GYRWPLPSK 623.00 129.12 322.80 51.78 0.03847 15 CMQLNDDTRLYSNDCSGEANTSDAFNWTC 497.78 104.53 257.25 39.91 0.03889 16 CDSKVFKEGSSLLACKESSNEDVIGALLC 604.03 102.90 347.50 57.46 0.03901 17 CENTSLSSTTNSLMCMDILSEENTSLSSC 316.22  59.29 175.00 27.76 0.03938 18 CSLSSTTNSLMQLNCMDILSEENTSLSSC 323.72  56.11 188.90 27.71 0.03996 19 CSLSSTTNSLMQLNCMDILSEENTSLSSC 564.11 112.62 299.55 51.82 0.04118 20 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCKESSNEDVIGALLC 689.03 123.08 390.93 64.64 0.04121 21 CMDILSEENTSLSSCMQLNDDTRLYSNDC 392.28  70.22 223.85 36.73 0.04279 22 CSDAFNWTVDSENRCMDILSEENTSLSSC 394.00  81.52 207.20 34.73 0.04293 23 TVDSENRTNLAAEGC 587.33  95.96 348.10 58.23 0.04345 24 CNDDTRLYSNDFNSCMDILSEENTSLSSC 350.67  67.59 196.45 28.93 0.04389 25 CTVDSENRTNLSSECRTNLSSEGSLSPSC 507.22  85.61 296.95 50.10 0.04415 26 CLSSEGSLSPSSLSCMDILSEENTSLSSC 320.72  57.25 188.85 26.70 0.04533 27 CLSPSSLSLLHLQECTVDSENRTNLSSEC 427.89  65.71 263.00 41.97 0.04538 28 CDSKVFKEGSSLLACMDILSEENTSLSSC 429.00  84.12 236.60 38.29 0.04573 29 TILYGYRWPLPSKLC 651.50 115.23 378.20 61.96 0.04627 30 CFNWTVDSENRTNLCMDILSEENTSLSSC 312.00  61.58 174.90 25.14 0.04697 31 STTNSLMQLNAATRL 611.83  91.02 385.15 58.43 0.04718 32 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCYSNDFNSGEANTSC 555.67 120.54 288.50 48.26 0.04721 33 QDDSKVFKEGAALLA 439.11  71.77 263.70 43.61 0.04734 34 CNSLMQLNDDTRLYCYSNDFNSGEANTSC 459.72  91.78 268.10 43.39 0.04736 35 CLTILYGYRWPLPSKLC 792.94 137.92 475.00 68.01 0.04762 36 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCSDAFNWTVDSENRC 511.11  90.49 298.55 48.45 0.04794 37 CDSKVFKEGSSLLACSGEANTSDAFNWTC 623.06 127.57 333.75 59.05 0.04808 38 CVFKEGSSLLADDNCKESSNEDVIGALLC 594.61 105.51 348.13 55.91 0.04850 39 CLSEENTSLSSTTNCMDILSEENTSLSSC 303.50  51.61 184.40 26.46 0.04929 40 CLTILYGYRWPLPSCLYGYRWPLPSKLSC 879.72 160.75 508.45 83.43 0.04973 41 CLTILYGYRWPAASKLC 782.33 149.17 449.80 66.54 0.05001 42 CTRLYSNDFNSGEACKESSNEDVIGALLC 561.03 100.74 333.60 47.96 0.05023 43 CLYGYRWPLPSKLSCSGEANTSDAFNWTC 649.67 137.64 344.80 60.02 0.05041 44 CMDILSEENTSLSSCSKESSNEDVIGALC 432.33  68.96 266.55 41.79 0.05050 45 CSSLSLLHLQEKNWCMDILSEENTSLSSC 318.17  49.59 198.50 30.50 0.05066 46 CDSKVFKEGSSLLACSENRTNLSSEGSLC 512.94  90.33 296.70 54.19 0.05072 47 CVFKEGSSLLADDNCSDAFNWTVDSENRC 399.89  65.84 244.50 37.80 0.05093 48 CLQDDSKVFKEGSSCKESSNEDVIGALLC 632.28 111.59 373.15 61.16  0.051561 HTR.MAT: double looped conformational peptide, HTR.LIN15AA: linear peptide of 15 amino acids, HTR.LIN9: linear peptide of 9 amino acids, HTR.P2_15AA: single looped conformational peptide of 15 amino acids.

In double looped peptides, three cysteine residues were added, two as first and last amino acid and one in the middle of the sequence. Then peptides of the invention may the whole sequence or the fragments located between two cysteine residues or the sequence with only one cysteine at either end of the sequence. In single looped peptides, two cysteine residues were added, as first and last amino acid. Then peptides of the invention may the whole sequence or the fragment located between two cysteine residues or the sequence with only one cysteine at either end of the sequence.

Tab. 2 List of peptide sequences from NOX2 library that are significantly recognized by the MS sera (n = 9) compared to CTRLs (n = 10) (p < 0.05). Peptide Sequence SEQ ID NO:  1 NFARKRIKN SEQ ID NO: 58 CB245.LIN9  2 LNFARKRIK SEQ ID NO: 59 CB245.LIN9  3 CNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 60 CB245.P2_9  4 CSYLNFARKRIKNPEGCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 61 CB245.MAT  5 NESYLNFARKAAKNP SEQ ID NO: 62 CB245.LIN15AA  6 QNESYLNFARKRIKN SEQ ID NO: 63 CB245.LIN15AA  7 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 64 CB245.MAT  8 CNFARKRIKNPEGGLYCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 65 CB245.MAT  9 CVRGQTAESLAVHNITCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 66 CB245.MAT 10 FARKRIKNP SEQ ID NO: 67 CB245.LIN9 11 GDRQNESYLNAGRKR SEQ ID NO: 68 CB245.LIN15AA 12 CQKISEWGKIKESPIPCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 69 CB245.MAT 13 CGDRQNESYLNFARKRCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 70 CB245.MAT 14 SYLNFARKRIAAPEG SEQ ID NO: 71 CB245.LIN15AA 15 CEWSVNARVNNSDPYSCPYSVALSELGDRQNEC SEQ ID NO: 72 CB245.MAT 16 CHGAERIVRGQTAESLCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 73 CB245.MAT 17 CESLAVHNITVSEQKICQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 74 CB245.MAT 18 CERIVRGQTAESLAVHCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 75 CB245.MAT 19 RQNESYLNFARKRIK SEQ ID NO: 76 CB245.LIN15AA 20 NFARKRIKNPAAGLY SEQ ID NO: 77 CB245.LIN15AA 21 DPYSVALSELAARQN SEQ ID NO: 78 CB245.LIN15AA 22 CESLAVHNITVSEQKICSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC SEQ ID NO: 79 CB245.MAT 23 CSELGDRQNESYLNFACQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 80 CB245.MAT 24 CNITVSEQKISEWGKICQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 81 CB245.MAT 25 CHGAERIVRGQTAESLCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC SEQ ID NO: 82 CB245.MAT 26 KISEWGKIK SEQ ID NO: 83 CB245.LIN9 27 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCEQKISEWGKIKESPIC SEQ ID NO: 84 CB245.MAT 28 CGDRQNESYLNFARKRCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC SEQ ID NO: 85 CB245.MAT 29 CNESYLNFARKAAKNPC SEQ ID NO: 86 CB245.P2_15AA 30 CLNFARKRIKC SEQ ID NO: 87 CB245.P2_9 31 QKISEWGKIKAAPIP SEQ ID NO: 88 CB245.LIN15AA 32 CHGAERIVRGQTAESLCNFARKRIKNPEGGLYC SEQ ID NO: 89 CB245.MAT 33 CQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 90 CB245.P2_15AA 34 LNFARKRIKNAAGGL SEQ ID NO: 91 CB245.LIN15AA 35 CLNFARKRIKNAAGGLC SEQ ID NO: 92 CB245.P2_15AA 36 CQKISEWGKIKESPIPCTVSEQKISEWGKIKEC SEQ ID NO: 93 CB245.MAT 37 TVCEQKISEWGKIKE SEQ ID NO: 94 CB245.LIN15AA 38 CRQNESYLNFARKRIKC SEQ ID NO: 95 CB245.P2_15AA 39 NITVCEQKISAAGKI SEQ ID NO: 96 CB245.LIN15AA 40 CNFARKRIKNPEGGLYCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC SEQ ID NO: 97 CB245.MAT 41 CQKISEWGKIKESPIPCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 98 CB245.MAT 42 CNITVSEQKISEWGKICSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC SEQ ID NO: 99 CB245.MAT 43 CQTAESLAVHNITVSECQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 100 CB245.MAT 44 CHGAERIVRGQTAESLCQKISEWGKIKESPIPC SEQ ID NO: 101 CB245.MAT 45 GKIKECPIP SEQ ID NO: 102 CB245.LIN9 46 CEWSVNARVNNSDPYSCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 103 CB245.MAT 47 LGDRQNESYLNFARK SEQ ID NO: 104 CB245.LIN15AA 48 CNITVSEQKISAAGKIC SEQ ID NO: 105 CB245.P2_15AA 49 CNFARKRIKNPEGGLYCSLAVHNITVSEQKISC SEQ ID NO: 106 CB245.MAT 50 ESYLNFARK SEQ ID NO: 107 CB245.LIN9 51 CKISEWGKIKC SEQ ID NO: 108 CB245.P2_9 52 NESYLNFARKRIKNP SEQ ID NO: 109 CB245.LIN15AA 53 CVALSELGDRQNESYLCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 110 CB245.MAT 54 CQNESYLNFARKRIKNCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 111 CB245.MAT 55 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC SEQ ID NO: 112 CB245.MAT 56 QNESYLNFARAAIKN SEQ ID NO: 113 CB245.LIN15AA 57 CSEQKISEWGKIKESPC SEQ ID NO: 114 CB245.P2_15AA 58 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 115 CB245.MAT 59 WGKIKECPI SEQ ID NO: 116 CB245.LIN9 60 CNFARKRIKNPEGGLYCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC SEQ ID NO: 117 CB245.MAT 61 VNARVNNSDPAAVAL SEQ ID NO: 118 CB245.LIN15AA 62 YLNFARKRIKAAEGG SEQ ID NO: 119 CB245.LIN15AA 63 GDRQNESYLNFARKR SEQ ID NO: 120 CB245.LIN15AA 64 WCVNARVNNSDPYSV SEQ ID NO: 121 CB245.LIN15AA 65 CSYLNFARKRIKNPEGCITVSEQKISEWGKIKC SEQ ID NO: 122 CB245.MAT 66 CAVHNITVSEQKISEWCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 123 CB245.MAT 67 CPYSVALSELGDRQNECITVSEQKISEWGKIKC SEQ ID NO: 124 CB245.MAT 68 CSYLNFARKRIKNPEGCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC SEQ ID NO: 125 CB245.MAT 69 CAVHNITVSEQKISEWCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 126 CB245.MAT 70 LGDRQNESYLAAARK SEQ ID NO: 127 CB245.LIN15AA 71 CVNARVNNSDPYSVALCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 128 CB245.MAT 72 CFNVEWSVNARVNNSDCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC SEQ ID NO: 129 CB245.MAT 73 CNSDPYSVALSELGDRCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 130 CB245.MAT 74 CGDRQNESYLNFARKRCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC SEQ ID NO: 131 CB245.MAT 75 DPYSVALSELGDRQN SEQ ID NO: 132 CB245.LIN15AA 76 CAVHNITVSEQKISEWCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC SEQ ID NO: 133 CB245.MAT 77 CVRGQTAESLAVHNITCITVSEQKISEWGKIKC SEQ ID NO: 134 CB245.MAT 78 CQNESYLNFARKRIKNCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC SEQ ID NO: 135 CB245.MAT 79 CESLAVHNITVSEQKICGDRQNESYLNFARKRC SEQ ID NO: 136 CB245.MAT 80 CRVNNSDPYSVALSELCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC SEQ ID NO: 137 CB245.MAT 81 CSYLNFARKRIKNPEGCNFARKRIKNPEGGLYC SEQ ID NO: 138 CB245.MAT 82 CQTAESLAVHNITVSECVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 139 CB245.MAT 83 YLNFARKRI SEQ ID NO: 140 CB245.LIN9 84 CFNVEWSVNARVNNSDCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 141 CB245.MAT 85 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCTVSEQKISEWGKIKEC SEQ ID NO: 142 CB245.MAT 86 CNSDPYSVALSELGDRCITVSEQKISEWGKIKC SEQ ID NO: 143 CB245.MAT 87 CNITVSEQKISEWGKICGDRQNESYLNFARKRC SEQ ID NO: 144 CB245.MAT 88 CLGDRQNESYLAAARKC SEQ ID NO: 145 CB245.P2_15AA 89 QKISEWGKI SEQ ID NO: 146 CB245.LIN9 90 CITVSEQKISEAAKIKC SEQ ID NO: 147 CB245.P2_15AA 91 CVRGQTAESLAVHNITCVHNITVSEQKISEWGC SEQ ID NO: 148 CB245.MAT 92 CQKISEWGKIKESPIPCVHNITVSEQKISEWGC SEQ ID NO: 149 CB245.MAT 93 CQNESYLNFARKRIKNCNFARKRIKNPEGGLYC SEQ ID NO: 150 CB245.MAT 94 CRVNNSDPYSVALSELCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 151 CB245.MAT 95 CGDRQNESYLNFARKRCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 152 CB245.MAT 96 CQKISEWGKIKAAPIPC SEQ ID NO: 153 CB245.P2_15AA 97 CVNARVNNSDPYSVALCTVSEQKISEWGKIKEC SEQ ID NO: 154 CB245.MAT 98 CEWSVNARVNNSDPYSCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC SEQ ID NO: 155 CB245.MAT 99 CVRGQTAESLAVHNITCSLAVHNITVSEQKISC SEQ ID NO: 156 CB245.MAT Sequence MEAN MS SEM MS MEAN CTRL SEM CTRL P-value NFARKRIKN 613.833 117.974 288.95 50.127 0.017533 LNFARKRIK 557.056  92.576 294.6 50.896 0.020529 CNFARKRIKNC 748.389 145.481 374.6 48.888 0.020984 CSYLNFARKRIKNPEGCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 778.278 141.548 398.9 62.496 0.021068 NESYLNFARKAAKNP 505.278  81.335 279.1 42.463 0.021146 QNESYLNFARKRIKN 610.778 110.062 309.65 53.910 0.021235 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 804.556 152.312 402.9 62.907 0.021494 CNFARKRIKNPEGGLYCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 801.056 148.456 410.85 61.525 0.021931 CVRGQTAESLAVHNITCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 824.500 143.332 438.35 67.804 0.022090 FARKRIKNP 666.111 125.706 337.4 54.419 0.023461 GDRQNESYLNAGRKR 547.278  96.746 294.2 42.636 0.023828 CQKISEWGKIKESPIPCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 855.111 151.464 458.3 72.573 0.025816 CGDRQNESYLNFARKRCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 831.278 163.826 412.7 72.303 0.026839 SYLNFARKRIAAPEG 472.000  83.677 259.75 37.175 0.027985 CEWSVNARVNNSDPYSCPYSVALSELGDRQNEC 428.167  79.768 225.5 35.843 0.028038 CHGAERIVRGQTAESLCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 748.111 136.357 407.2 56.805 0.028309 CESLAVHNITVSEQKICQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 689.556 135.802 354.9 53.509 0.028995 CERIVRGQTAESLAVHCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 833.444 149.785 455.55 68.507 0.029550 RQNESYLNFARKRIK 458.833  88.112 241.2 38.449 0.031258 NFARKRIKNPAAGLY 604.167 112.468 323.85 51.645 0.031431 DPYSVALSELAARQN 565.389  92.915 325.05 50.274 0.031704 CESLAVHNITVSEQKICSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC 639.611 114.168 357.1 51.488 0.031924 CSELGDRQNESYLNFACQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 773.167 154.146 398.9 65.715 0.033178 CNITVSEQKISEWGKICQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 770.889 150.182 408.8 62.723 0.033686 CHGAERIVRGQTAESLCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC 755.722 135.689 417.5 66.730 0.033710 KISEWGKIK 404.500  76.258 223.9 29.152 0.034179 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCEQKISEWGKIKESPIC 811.056 151.397 443.5 66.739 0.034184 CGDRQNESYLNFARKRCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC 775.500 157.009 404.05 61.921 0.035130 CNESYLNFARKAAKNPC 702.222 119.948 411.15 54.568 0.035259 CLNFARKRIKC 713.333 148.240 374.7 47.602 0.036234 QKISEWGKIKAAPIP 701.889 142.859 364.3 59.774 0.036968 CHGAERIVRGQTAESLCNFARKRIKNPEGGLYC 733.889 136.475 404.6 63.679 0.037064 CQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 667.389 130.810 361.75 51.543 0.037142 LNFARKRIKNAAGGL 354.778  70.317 187.85 30.409 0.037220 CLNFARKRIKNAAGGLC 691.444 137.690 367 57.492 0.037383 CQKISEWGKIKESPIPCTVSEQKISEWGKIKEC 846.833 155.062 476.45 69.583 0.037396 TVCEQKISEWGKIKE 514.944  89.577 289.4 50.414 0.037701 CRQNESYLNFARKRIKC 653.944 131.478 350.1 49.641 0.037862 NITVCEQKISAAGKI 564.500 103.965 314.2 49.516 0.038184 CNFARKRIKNPEGGLYCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC 752.333 139.571 416.6 66.438 0.038310 CQKISEWGKIKESPIPCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 815.972 154.878 450.975 66.905 0.038417 CNITVSEQKISEWGKICSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC 738.444 144.682 397.7 62.491 0.038524 CQTAESLAVHNITVSECQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 697.667 143.031 367.45 55.429 0.038717 CHGAERIVRGQTAESLCQKISEWGKIKESPIPC 734.917 132.945 407.625 70.500 0.038779 GKIKECPIP 594.611 111.300 324.35 56.061 0.038930 CEWSVNARVNNSDPYSCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 714.944 148.086 372.8 58.717 0.039223 LGDRQNESYLNFARK 457.556  87.314 252.4 38.376 0.039506 CNITVSEQKISAAGKIC 828.167 161.273 460.55 60.796 0.040192 CNFARKRIKNPEGGLYCSLAVHNITVSEQKISC 599.000 117.360 330.8 44.992 0.040197 ESYLNFARK 535.667 101.551 296.3 46.513 0.040403 CKISEWGKIKC 672.833 131.134 367.95 57.029 0.041005 NESYLNFARKRIKNP 602.889 112.832 333.75 55.479 0.041060 CVALSELGDRQNESYLCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 761.778 149.165 406.75 72.796 0.041142 CQNESYLNFARKRIKNCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 747.139 139.947 419.075 63.876 0.041252 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC 846.778 166.956 462.45 69.927 0.041538 QNESYLNFARAAIKN 421.722  74.794 244 36.768 0.041742 CSEQKISEWGKIKESPC 501.167 101.057 271.75 39.588 0.041995 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 756.639 139.081 432.35 63.156 0.042031 WGKIKECPI 501.389  85.494 303.25 37.670 0.042036 CNFARKRIKNPEGGLYCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC 800.500 164.282 425.15 67.492 0.042277 VNARVNNSDPAAVAL 426.444  89.633 219.15 39.717 0.042623 YLNFARKRIKAAEGG 299.167  48.645 181.3 26.445 0.042780 GDRQNESYLNFARKR 325.333  71.433 163.95 27.971 0.042865 WCVNARVNNSDPYSV 283.889  51.504 163.8 24.175 0.043310 CSYLNFARKRIKNPEGCITVSEQKISEWGKIKC 796.222 141.260 457.4 74.781 0.043355 CAVHNITVSEQKISEWCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 697.000 132.608 392.5 58.017 0.043483 CPYSVALSELGDRQNECITVSEQKISEWGKIKC 824.056 151.125 469.75 74.499 0.044343 CSYLNFARKRIKNPEGCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC 786.389 154.795 430.35 70.557 0.044707 CAVHNITVSEQKISEWCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 685.667 140.191 370.15 57.325 0.044934 LGDRQNESYLAAARK 478.278  93.425 262.75 43.574 0.045056 CVNARVNNSDPYSVALCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 772.583 148.494 436.575 63.579 0.045484 CFNVEWSVNARVNNSDCGDRQNESYLNFARKRC 792.889 167.256 423.15 63.958 0.046274 CNSDPYSVALSELGDRCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 764.528 146.689 434.925 61.821 0.046277 CGDRQNESYLNFARKRCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC 730.222 144.653 401.95 64.840 0.046636 DPYSVALSELGDRQN 300.556  52.221 177.25 27.831 0.046679 CAVHNITVSEQKISEWCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC 648.556 118.334 375.55 57.805 0.047030 CVRGQTAESLAVHNITCITVSEQKISEWGKIKC 758.278 135.230 440.5 71.450 0.047178 CQNESYLNFARKRIKNCSYLNFARKRIKNPEGC 711.556 140.645 396.7 60.423 0.047697 CESLAVHNITVSEQKICGDRQNESYLNFARKRC 730.278 143.452 409.15 61.650 0.047716 CRVNNSDPYSVALSELCQNESYLNFARKRIKNC 743.167 156.061 398.05 62.948 0.047897 CSYLNFARKRIKNPEGCNFARKRIKNPEGGLYC 659.944 126.954 371.8 59.312 0.048308 CQTAESLAVHNITVSECVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 590.111 111.059 339.65 50.662 0.048582 YLNFARKRI 601.667 108.516 345.85 59.745 0.048726 CFNVEWSVNARVNNSDCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 784.944 149.515 447.325 69.485 0.049109 CVSEQKISEWGKIKESCTVSEQKISEWGKIKEC 760.333 137.654 446.5 66.920 0.049174 CNSDPYSVALSELGDRCITVSEQKISEWGKIKC 781.611 136.738 456.45 78.433 0.049315 CNITVSEQKISEWGKICGDRQNESYLNFARKRC 816.722 167.231 446.7 70.860 0.049530 CLGDRQNESYLAAARKC 698.944 131.913 402.85 60.271 0.049600 QKISEWGKI 508.333  92.706 298.2 44.546 0.049820 CITVSEQKISEAAKIKC 703.000 147.115 383.25 56.600 0.049837 CVRGQTAESLAVHNITCVHNITVSEQKISEWGC 445.278  79.537 263.5 39.692 0.049916 CQKISEWGKIKESPIPCVHNITVSEQKISEWGC 442.611  82.066 263.25 32.814 0.049972 CQNESYLNFARKRIKNCNFARKRIKNPEGGLYC 697.056 139.880 392.3 55.275 0.050219 CRVNNSDPYSVALSELCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 731.111 139.692 422.275 60.170 0.050319 CGDRQNESYLNFARKRCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 805.278 155.053 461.6 67.947 0.050467 CQKISEWGKIKAAPIPC 710.778 140.027 402.15 59.861 0.050660 CVNARVNNSDPYSVALCTVSEQKISEWGKIKEC 799.667 154.908 455.6 69.048 0.050729 CEWSVNARVNNSDPYSCVSEQKISEWGKIKESC 760.083 148.508 433.775 62.562 0.050743 CVRGQTAESLAVHNITCSLAVHNITVSEQKISC 546.444 110.735 304.75 47.813 0.053099 CB245.MAT: double looped conformational peptide, CB245.LIN15AA: linear peptide of 15 amino acids, CB245.LIN9: linear peptide of 9 amino acids, CB245.P2_15AA: single looped conformational peptide of 15 amino acids.

In double looped peptides, three cysteine residues were added, two as first and last amino acid and one in the middle of the sequence. Then peptides of the invention may the whole sequence or the fragments located between two cysteine residues. In single looped peptides, two cysteine residues were added, as first and last amino acid. Then peptides of the invention may the whole sequence or the fragment located between two cysteine residues or the sequence with only one cysteine at either end of the sequence.

FIG. 15 reports the alignments of the peptides of the invention with fragments of 5HT2aR. It shows that each extracellular region of the 5HT2A receptor overlap with peptides that have an high affinity for MS sera. The asterisks show the 100% identity of amino acids with the different extracellular region of the 5HT2A receptor.

FIG. 16 reports the alignments of the peptides of the invention with fragments of NOX2. It shows that the extracellular loop 2 and loop 3 of NOX 2 overlap with peptides that have an high affinity for MS sera. The asterisks show the 100% identity of amino acids with the different extracellular region of NOX2 Loop 2 (panel A), loop 3 (panel B).

Elisa

Dose-Response Curves of the Interaction Between MS IgG and DDSK Peptide

The inventors have demonstrated the immunoglobulins of Multiple Sclerosis patients bind serotonin receptor. To evaluate the peptide concentration to use for ELISA assay we performed a dose-response curve. The immunoglobulins of Multiple Sclerosis patients and Control (200 μg) were incubated with different concentrations (50-100-250 μM) of peptide DDSKVFKEGS (named DDSK in the figures) and the absorbance (optical density) of plate was read at 450 nm. FIG. 6 shows that MS IgG bind the DDSK peptide at the concentration higher than 50 μM.

MS IgG Recognize Specially Receptor's Peptide

The MS IgG binds peptides derived from serotonin receptor. To confirm this data, the inventors performed indirect Elisa using two different peptides derived from serotonin receptor compared to scrambled.

The immunoglobulins of Multiple Sclerosis patients and Control (200 μg) were incubated with 100 μM of specific or control peptide and the absorbance (optical density) of plate was read at 450 nm. FIG. 7 shows that MS IgG bind specifically DDSKVFKEGS ((SEQ ID NO: 157), also named DDSK) and LYGYRWPLPSKL ((SEQ ID NO: 158), also named LYGY) peptides respect to scrambled (TWYAHNCRLQ, SEQ ID NO: 173).

DDSK Peptide Shows High Sensitivity and Specificity to IgG MS

The inventors have demonstrate the MS IgG binds specific peptide derived from receptor.

To evaluate the sensitivity of the binding, the inventors performed a ROC curve starting from 28 samples each one repeated at least 4 times. In FIG. 8 we show that binding between MS IgG and DDSK peptides has a 82% of sensitivity and 96% of specificity.

IgG from MS Patients Interfere with 5HT2aR Signaling

To evaluate whether the interaction of IgG from MS patients with the membrane 5HT2aR/NOX3 complex could affect cell signaling downstream the receptor, the inventors performed experiments with HEK293 cells transfected in transient with 5HT2aR. The cells were stimulated with IgG from Control or MS patients prior to the stimulation with the endogenous receptor agonist 5-Ht, and then P-ERK1/2 levels were measured. As shown in the FIG. 9A, IgG from MS patients inhibit 5-Ht-mediated induction of P-ERK1/2 levels.

The inventors also provided evidences about the interference of IgG from MS patients with 5HT2aR signaling in human oligodendrocyte cell line M03-13. Cells were stimulated with IgG from control or MS patients in the presence and absence of risperidone, a serotonin receptor antagonist. In the presence of the substance, IgG from MS patients failed to induce P-ERK1/2 levels thus confirming that autoantibodies present in sera of MS patients increase P-ERK1/2 levels acting on serotonin receptor (FIG. 9B).

Overall, the present results suggest that 5HT2aR-bound autoantibodies present in MS patients may exert an ethiopathogenic role in MS. Therefore, compounds interfering with the immunoglobulins-receptor binding can be used for the treatment of MS.

IgG from MS Patients Increase Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), DUOX1/2, P-ERK1/2, HaRas and NOX3 Protein Levels and DDSK Peptide Reverts the Effect

5Ht receptors rely on ROS for downstream signaling (Kruk et al., 2013). Therefore, we measured ROS levels, as DCF fluorescence, in M03-13 cells stimulated with IgG from Control or MS patients in the absence or presence of the DDSK peptide. As shown in FIG. 10 A, IgG MS significantly increased ROS levels and preincubation of cells with DDSK peptide reverted the effect. On the contrary, DDSK did not significantly affect ROS levels of IgGCtr treated samples. Scrambled peptides, used as negative control, did not influence ROS levels of IgG MS treated samples (FIG. 10 B). The ability of DDSK to interfere with 5HT2a receptor downstream signaling measured as ROS levels, demonstrate that the peptide is able to revert the biological effects of the autoantibodies present in MS sera on human oligodendrocytes and, therefore, that it may be used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

In addition to NOX3 and NOX5, M03-13 cells express also DUOX1 and 2 isoforms (Damiano et al., 2012, PloS); their protein levels are very sensitive to ROS. Other downstream ROS targets are P-ERK, and H-Ras (Refs). For these reasons we also measured DUOX1/2 (FIG. 11), P-ERK1/2 (FIG. 12), NOX3 (FIG. 13) and HaRas (FIG. 14) protein levels by Western blotting in M03-13 cells stimulated with IgG from Control or MS patients in the absence or presence of the DDSK peptide. As shown in the FIG. 11, 12,13,14, IgMS significantly increased DUOX1/2, P-ERK1/2, NOX3 and HaRas protein levels, and preincubation of cells with DDSK peptide reverted the effect. The ability of DDSK to interfere with 5HT2a receptor downstream signaling measured as DUOX1/2, P-ERK1/2, NOX3 and HaRas protein levels levels, further demonstrate that the peptide is able to revert the biological effects of the autoantibodies present in MS sera on human oligodendrocytes and, therefore, that it may be used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

On the contrary, incubation of the cells with IgG from control subjects decreased DUOX1/2 and P-ERK1/2, while did not affect HaRas or NOX3 protein levels and DDSK HaRas did not significantly modify the levels of all the protein analyzed.

Altogether, these experiments suggest that peptides with sequences homologue to the extracellular domains of h-5HT2aR are able to counteract the effect of IgMS on 5HT2aR/NOX/ROS signaling pathway in human oligodendrocytes, thus representing a promising specific therapeutic tool for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

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1. A synthetic or recombinant peptide or a fragment thereof able to bind multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies selected from the group consisting of: a) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 16, 37, 33, 25, 47, 57, 55, 46, 56 and comprising the amino acid sequence VFKEG and/or b) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 12, 50, 17, 49, 44, 38, 21, 29, 14, 41, 45, 52, 23 and comprising the amino acid sequence YRWP and/or c) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 16, 38, 57, 21, 29, 51, 53 and comprising the amino acid sequence KES or NEDVIGAL and/or d) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 40, 15, 43, 10, 24, 28, and comprising the amino acid sequence MQLN or TRL and/or e) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 19, 54, 20, 22, 26, 27, 11, 13, 35, 48, 16, 37, 18, 33, 31, 39, 30 and comprising the amino acid sequence MDIL or EENTSLSS and/or f) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 32, 34, 36 and comprising the amino acid sequence TVDSENRTNL and/or g) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 89, 95, 99, 100, 103, 104, 106, 110, 112, 117, 125, 126, 127, 129, 136, 137, 144, 145 and comprising the amino acid sequence LNFARK or LN FAR or ARK or NESY and/or h) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 83, 84, 93, 96, 98, 99, 101, 105, 108, 112, 115, 122, 123, 124, 128, 130, 134, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, 146, 147, 149, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156 and comprising the amino acid sequence QKISEWG or KISEWG or QKIS and/or i) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 72, 78, 118, 121, 132, and comprising the amino acid sequence PYSVAL, PYSV or VAL and/or j) a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 102, 116, and comprising the amino acid sequence KIKECP.
 2. The synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim 1 comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156, preferably at least 70% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to 156, more preferably at least 80% or 90% identity with any of SEQ ID No. 10 to
 156. 3. The synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim 2 essentially consisting of any of SEQ ID No. 10 to
 156. 4. The synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim 1 having at least 60% identity with any of DDSKVFKEGS (SEQ ID No. 157) or LYGYRWPLPSKL (SEQ ID No. 158).
 5. The synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim 1 essentially consisting of DDSKVFKEGS (SEQ ID No. 157) or LYGYRWPLPSKL (SEQ ID No. 158).
 6. The synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim 1 in linear or conformational form.
 7. A pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim 1 and pharmaceutically acceptable excipients.
 8. The pharmaceutical composition according to claim 7 further comprising a therapeutic agent, preferably the therapeutic agent is selected from the group consisting of: b-interferon, cognitive enhancers (nootropics): methylphenidate, racetams, isoflavones, vitamins (B, C, D, E), choline, amphetamines, xanthines, adrenergics, cholinergics, serotonigergic, dopaminergics, eugeroics (adrafinil, armodafinil, modafinil), GABA blockers, AMPAkines, PDE4 inhibitors and others; neuroprotective agents: glutamate antagonists, 17β-Estradiol, ginsenoside Rd, progesterone, statins, antioxidants, nicotine, caffeine, caspase inhibitors, neurotrophic factors, other antiapoptotic agents; anti-pain medication or natalizumab.
 9. A method for the treatment and/or prevention of multiple sclerosis comprising administering an effective amount of the synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim
 1. 10. A method for detecting multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies in a patient, said method comprising: a. obtaining a biological fluid isolated from the patient; and b. detecting whether multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies are present in the biological sample by contacting the biological sample with at least one synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim 1 and detecting binding between multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies and the at least one synthetic or recombinant peptide.
 11. A method for the diagnosis or for monitoring the progression of multiple sclerosis or for identifying or monitoring a therapy for multiple sclerosis characterized in detecting multiple sclerosis auto-antibodies in a biological sample isolated from a subject by means of binding to at least one synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim
 1. 12. A kit for the diagnosis or for monitoring the progression of multiple sclerosis or for identifying or monitoring a therapy for multiple sclerosis comprising at least one synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim
 1. 13. A nucleic acid molecule encoding for a synthetic or recombinant peptide or fragment thereof according to claim
 1. 14. An antibody or a recombinant or synthetic derivative thereof able to recognize and bind to at least one synthetic or recombinant peptide according to claim 1, preferably for medical and/or diagnostic use, preferably for use in the treatment and/or prevention or diagnosis and/or for monitoring the progression of multiple sclerosis and/or for identifying or monitoring a therapy of multiple sclerosis. 